Just days after the trailer of his upcoming big budget production “Veeram” was released, Malayalam director Jayaraj raked up controversy with his comments on Mohanlal’s blockbuster film “Pulimurugan”. 

Speaking to Manorama News on Friday, on the occasion of the release of the trailer of his multilingual film Veeram, the director said that technical brilliance of the film, not the caliber of the actor, was behind the huge success of “Pulimurugan”. 

With “Veeram” crossing the production budget of Rs 25 Crore of “Pulimurugan”, it was only natural that a comparison between the two films was made.

“Superstars are not the reason for the success of big budget films. Many other films of this actor (Mohanlal) have been flops. Then why was this film different? It was a crowd puller for its sheer technical brilliance,” Jayaraj said. 

Jayaraj’s comments irked many Mohanlal fans, who took to social media platforms to abuse the director. Reacting to the backlash from Mohanlal fans, the director took to Facebook on Monday to express regret over any hurt his comments had caused. 

“Bharat Mohanlal is not only a brilliant actor in Malayalam cinema, but also in world cinema. “Pulimurugan” is the result and manifestation of his hard work and talent,” Jayaraj wrote. 

Clarifying his comments on the actor and the film Pulimurugan, he wrote, “What I wanted to say is that the technical quality of Pulimurugan is one of the elements for its huge success, which contributed to the ‘initial pull.’ I regret if my comments have hurt Mohanlal or his fans.” 

While many social media users interpreted his apology as a damage control mechanism ahead of the release of “Veeram” in November, Jayaraj’s photograph with bowed head and folded arms made some suspect that the director’s apology was sarcastic.