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Urging legal action against director SS Rajamouli over his remarks against Hindu god Hanuman at the launch of Varanasi, the Rashtriya Vanara Sena, a fringe outfit, has filed a complaint against him at the Saroor Nagar Police Station in Hyderabad on November 17.
According to the complainant, the director had deliberately and intentionally insulted Hanuman with “derogatory remarks.” The organisation said that the director’s remarks were filled with “malice and hatred.”
They expressed concern over what they described as a growing trend of disrespecting Hindu deities in the film industry.
“These film personalities, who cannot survive without invoking the names of Hindu gods and Hinduism — and who earn thousands of crores by using Hindu deities and Hindu identity — are now making such speeches that provoke hatred among different religious communities,” the complaint read.
On November 15, at the grand launch of his upcoming film Varanasi which is said to be a sci-fi film blending Hindu mythology Ramayana with time travel, Rajamouli had expressed his frustration over the technical glitches during telecasting the trailer. The grand event was held in Hyderabad’s Ramoji Film City by inviting several international media houses. However, the technical malfunction disrupted the event leading to chaos and confusion, ruining the grand spectacle promised at the event.
As the trailer could not be played twice due to power supply deficiency, a visibly frustrated Rajamouli said he felt let down by Hanuman.
Rajamouli had said, “I don’t have much faith in gods. My father had earlier said that Hanuman will guide you. After the glitch happened, I yelled at him saying, ‘Is this how he leads me?’ My wife is a big admirer of Hanuman. She treats the god like her friend and talks to him. I expressed my anger at her too, saying, ‘Is this how he does things?’”
Rajamouli admitted that they faced the technical issue as they could not do the testing before the event– a routine practice – as some mischief began filming the trailer using a drone and leaked those visuals online.
Varanasi stars Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra, and Prithviraj Sukumaran. While most details are yet to be disclosed, the film unit has revealed that Mahesh Babu will play the character of Rudra, while Prithivaraj will essay the role of Kumbha, and Priyanka Chopra Jones, the role of Mandakini. The ambitious film is scheduled to be released in 2027.