Kalki 2898 AD director Nag Ashwin says Arshad Warsi ‘should have chosen his words better’ while speaking about Prabhas: ‘Sending Bujji toys for his kids’

Amidst the heated controversy over Arshad Warsi's remarks on Kalki 2898 AD and Prabhas, Nag Ashwin took to social media to spread some love, support, and a bunch of Bujji toys

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | Updated: August 24, 2024 10:47 AM IST

4 min read

Kalki 2898 AD producer lauded Nag Ashwin's comment on Arshad Warsi's statement.

Kalki 2898 AD might have become the biggest Indian grosser of the year but there are a few people who weren’t totally impressed by what they saw in the Nag Ashwin film and actor Arshad Warsi is one of them. When Arshad, in a recent interview, gave his opinion on Prabhas’ performance in the film and said that he looked like a “joker”, it drew a lot of criticism from Prabhas’ fans. Some argued that criticism of a character shouldn’t be misconstrued as a personal criticism targeted towards the actor. However, social media arguments is not the place for nuance, and there was a lot of to-and-fro from distinguished members of the Telugu film industry, who took offence against Arshad’s statements. And now, in a way to salvage the situation and bury the hatchet, Nag Ashwin has opened up about Arshad’s comments.

In response to a netizen, who was comparing Arshad Warsi’s previous characters to Telugu cinema’s stars and showing the latter in a rather unflattering light, Nag Ashwin said, “Who are you man? Why so much hate? And spreading division? We are all in this together…Chill… Can I send u a bujji toy? (sic)” Bujji is the AI assistant to Prabhas’ Bhairavaa, and was voiced by Keerthy Suresh in the film. In fact, sending Bujji toys seemed to be Nag Ashwin’s cute response to such hate comments, and he won the hearts of the netizens when he spoke about sending a few to Arshad Warsi’s kids, and moving on from the controversy.

ALSO READ: Vishnu Manchu writes a letter to CINETAA against Arshad Warsi’s remark on Prabhas: ‘His comment has created unnecessary negativity among cinema lovers’

Responding to a Telugu cinema aficionado’s shade against Bollywood, the Mahanati filmmaker said, “Let’s not go backwards. No more North-South or Bolly vs Tolly. Eyes on the bigger picture. United Indian Film Industry. Arshad saab should have chosen his words better, but it’s ok. Sending buji toys for his kids. I’ll work hard so he tweets FDFS that Prabhas was the best ever in Kalki 2.” When another netizen pointed out that the hate didn’t originate from here, and it wasn’t right to let go of such negativity, Nag responded, “Too much hate in the world already bro. We can try not to add to it. I know Prabhas garu will also feel the same.”

This olive branch extended by Nag Ashwin comes close on the heels of Nani’s apologies after he responded to Arshad’s comments in a press meet. While Nani first said that “this must be the most publicity he (Arshad) has got in life,” he later expressed regret over his “poor choice of words.”

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

With the controversy flaring up on both ends with netizens up in arms against each other defending their favourites, Nag’s intervention could be seen as the white flag that would put to rest this controversy. Interestingly, Arshad hasn’t responded to any of this yet, and has maintained a stoic silence over the repercussions of his statement. He recently turned off comments on his Instagram because of the excessive hate he had been getting on social media.

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