Dasara star Nani defends other filmmakers in Venkatesh Maha vs KGF controversy: 'We should not punish them too much'

Dasara star Nani has come to the defence of the filmmakers who came under a lot of fire after filmmaker Venkatesh Maha's comments on the KGF franchise went viral. While he refused to defend or even discuss Venkatesh's comments, he vouched for other filmmakers' love for big commercial films. 

For the uninitiated, Venkatesh went berserk with his comments on the films like KGF during a roundtable interview. Filmmakers Indraganti Mohana Krishna, Nandini Reddy, Vivek Athreya, and Shiva Nirvana were also part of the discussion. 

Venkatesh expressed some strong comments against the characterisation of the hero in KGF and the film's core plot. "After we watch a film, we discuss it with friends outside the theatres. Then there are interviews where we filter out certain things and say only a few things to convey a point. In that interview, the discussion went off as if it was being discussed outside the theatres with friends. He should have been a little careful," Nani told Gulte. 

Nani defended Indraganti Mohana Krishna, Nandini Reddy, Vivek Athreya, and Shiva Nirvana. He suggested that all filmmakers in the panel laughed at Venkatesh's comments out of courtesy. "I think we should not punish them too much for it," he said. 

"I don't want to discuss what Maha said. But, I know the rest of the directors very personally. They appreciate all cinema - commercial or independent. They will be the first to tweet about it. I have seen them whistle while watching RRR and I have seen them appreciating the editing in KGF. They are the gem of people. I won't judge them based on a 10-second clip," he remarked. 

Nani is busy promoting his film Dasara. It's his first attempt to release his film simultaneously in all other major Indian languages. Dasara also stars Keerthy Suresh as the female lead. And it's due in cinemas on March 30.