Director Atlee responded to popular comedian and television host Kapil Sharma’s racist insinuation about the former’s dark skin during a recent interview, saying that the world should not judge people for “their appearance, but for what’s in their heart.”
Atlee had appeared recently on The Great Indian Kapil Show to promote Baby John—the Hindi remake of his Tamil film Theri (2016) that had starred actor-turned-politician Vijay. During the interview, Kapil mockingly asked in Hindi, “Atlee, have you ever gone to meet a star and they’ve said ‘where’s Atlee?’,” which was considered a reference to the director’s dark skin.
To this comment, considered as racist, Atlee replied in English: “In a way, I understood your question. I will try to answer. I am very thankful to AR Murgadoss because he produced my first film. After he asked for the script, he didn’t consider how I look or if I’m capable. He loved my narration. The world should not judge by appearance. It should judge by what’s in the heart.”
Atlee’s was referring to his debut film Raja Rani (2013), starring Nayanthara and Arya, which was was bankrolled by AR Murgadoss who also directed hit films like Sarkar (2018), Thuppakki (2012) and Kaththi (2014) in Tamil and Jai Ho (2014) and Ghajini (2005) in Hindi.
After the clip of Atlee and Kapil’s exchange on the show went viral on social media platforms, many praised Atlee for his response and slammed Kapil, condemning the racist nature of his remarks. Well-known playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada came out in support of the director saying, “Will they never stop these crass and racist jibes at his skin colour in the name of ‘comedy’? Someone with the amount of influence and clout like Kapil Sharma saying something like this is disappointing and unfortunately, not surprising.” It may be noted that Atlee has often been mocked for his skin colour.
Baby John marks Atlee’s second Bollywood outing after the massive success of Sharuk Khan-starter Jawan (2023). Baby John stars Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh and Wamiqa Gabbi, all three of whom were also present on the show when Kapil made his offensive remarks.