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Arshad Warsi stands by his comments on Kalki 2898 AD: ‘Prabhas is a brilliant actor, but…’

Arshad Warsi’s words about the characterisation of Prabhas in Kalki 2898 AD was assumed to be a critique about the actor himself, and he received major backlash for the same.

By: Entertainment Desk
Updated: September 29, 2024 10:35 AM IST

3 min read

Arshad Warsi on row about Prabhas and Kalki 2898 AD.

Throughout his impressive career, Arshad Warsi has developed a reputation of being candid, and saying things that he means from the heart. Probably why his statement about Prabhas’ latest film Kalki 2898 AD didn’t go down well with the immediately incendiary section of social media where nuance goes for a toss. Arshad’s words about the characterization of Prabhas in the movie was assumed to be a critique about the actor himself, and he received major backlash not just from the ardent fans of the Baahubali actor but members of the Telugu cinema fraternity who took it so seriously that they even sent official letters of reprimand to an actors’ association in Hindi cinema. In a podcast, when asked about a recent film that he wasn’t particularly impressed with, Arshad said, “Prabhas, I am really sad. He was like a joker. Why? I want to see a Mad Max. I want to see Mel Gibson over there. What have you made of it? Why do they do such things? I never understand.”

ALSO READ | Arshad Warsi disappointed by Kalki 2898 AD, says Prabhas was like a joker: ‘Kyu karte ho aisa?’

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This ‘joker’ comment was misconstrued by many as a slight against their matinee idol, and Arshad found himself in the middle of a nasty exchange of comments that even had the usually genial Nani call it as a ‘call for attention’ only to retract his statement after understanding the context and intent of Arshad. At the recently conducted IIFA 2024, the Munnabhai MBBS actor was asked to comment on this controversy, and once again, Arshad minced no words in letting the world know what he thought about the controversy. He said, “Everybody has their own point of view and people like to interpret noise. I spoke about the character, not the person. He (Prabhas) is a brilliant actor and he has proved himself again and again, and we know about it. And, when we give a bad character to a good actor, it’s heartbreaking for the audience.”

ALSO READ | Nani regrets lashing out against Arshad Warsi for saying Kalki turned Prabhas into a ‘joker’: ‘My choice of words was poor’

At this press meet, Arshad Warsi also spoke about Indian cinema standing together as a whole, and shared his belief that the days of films being divided by linguistic barriers is over. He also revealed that if and when he becomes a director, he hopes to cast talented actors from across the country irrespective of the language they usually work in. And of course, no interview with Arshad can end without a customary mention of the next part of the Munnabhai franchise. “Yes, we had a round of talks, and I think Munnabhai 3 might just happen,” signed off Arshad.