Filmmaker Hansal Mehta criticised Telugu producer Naga Vamsi for his “arrogant” comments about the Hindi film industry, reminding him that his recent hit Lucky Baskhar was “liberally” borrowed from Scam 1992.
Lucky Bhaskar featuring Dulquer Salmaan and Meenakshi Chaudhary is a con-drama set in the backdrop of the Harshad Mehta scam. The film references Harshad Mehta and his infamous stock market scam.
At a producers’ round table conversation, Vamsi who is the producer of films like Devara and Lucky Baskhar made a sarcastic comment saying that the success of the Telugu film Pushpa 2: The Rule in the north would have given sleepless nights to the Bollywood producers. According to the makers of Pushpa 2, the Allu Arjun starrer is the first dubbed film in Hindi which has collected Rs 100 crores nett in three weeks.
“I don't think that the whole of Mumbai would have slept last Sunday when Pushpa 2 grossed 80 crore in a single day,” Vamsi said appreciating the way Telugu films have found a market in the North Indian states.
Reacting to this on X, Mehta initially said, “Chill dude whoever you are… I live in Mumbai. Been sleeping really well.”
In a subsequent tweet, Mehta said that Vamsi’s latest film Lucky Baskhar was heavily borrowed from his hit Scam 1992 series. “ Since this person Mr Naga Vamsi was being so arrogant and now that I know who he is : His latest hit as a producer Lucky Bhaskar has borrowed liberally from the Scam series. Reason I brought this up is that I feel happy that stories travel and a film in another language succeeds in replicating what has worked for us. Everybody wins. Nobody is bigger than the other. That narrative is destructive. Arrogance is even worse.”
Filmmaker Siddharth Anand also joined in criticising Vamsi and wrote, “Mumbai has always been the city that never sleeps ;) It’s ok, I guess some people don’t know our real Mumbai!”
Vamsi’s “arrogant” remarks criticising Bollywood during the interview have sparked widespread backlash. He claimed that the decline in Bollywood’s business is a result of the industry’s obsession on catering to the Bandra and Juhu audience.
Referring to this statement Anand wrote, “And one more thing. I have infact lived ONLY in Bandra and Juhu both! Just fyi”
The clips from the interview have gone viral with many finding fault with the way Vamsi speaks to Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor. Hansal Mehta also criticised the host of the event film critic Baradwaj Rangan, claiming that he did not make the necessary intervention.