Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu, who enjoys a huge fan following across India and overseas, was recently targeted by a Tamil stand-up comedian named Manoj Prabhakar.
Comparing Mahesh Babu’s acting in the film Spyder to that of Hindi actress Katrina Kaif, he said, “Mahesh Babu is the male version of Hindi actress Katrina Kaif, both faces are beautiful, but both are also without expressions.” He further added that SJ Surya’s performance was better than the superstar’s in the film.
Within no time, the video went viral, prompting angry fans of Mahesh Babu to send thousands of irate messages to the comedian for his insulting comments, and forcing him to finally apologise on his Facebook page.
“All I wanted to say was that Mahesh Babu’s acting was not good in Spyder. That does not mean he is a bad actor,” said the comedian in his long Facebook post, adding that none of his comments were meant to be taken personally.
Fans of the superstar were quick to retaliate. “All the Tamil actors including Rajinikanth are expressionless and they don’t know acting. They get collections because of mass movies. Mahesh Babu is one of the best actors in India and beyond compare in the Telugu film industry. If someone wants to gain by using his name, it’s not our superstar’s loss,” says Ravi Nemana, an ardent fan of Mahesh Babu and his father Krishna too.
Meanwhile, the Movie Artistes Association (MAA) general secretary has taken up the issue and sent a protest letter to the Nadigar Sangam, the Tamil Artistes Association to take action against the comedian. “We are deeply shocked to see that a comedian named Manoj Prabhakar made extremely derogatory comments against superstar Mahesh Babu, about his personality and acting at an awards function. It has created furore in the Southern states and also bad vibrations between the friendly Telugu and Tamil film industries,” says the letter, which further requested the Nadigar Sangam to take action against the comedian.
However, according to Vishal, General Secretary, Nadigar Sangam, people should not take everything so seriously. “We all know Mahesh Babu and he doesn’t need to prove anything. He is very famous and all the Telugu people love him and nobody can replace him,” he adds.
Interestingly, Vishal adds that he doesn’t even know who Manoj Prabhakar is. “I know only the cricketer Manoj Prabhakar. It’s become very common that if someone wants to get popular, they criticise a big celebrity. That’s how social media works today but I appeal to everyone to not take this seriously. I also appeal to Mahesh Babu’s fans to show more love towards the actor and not worry about this person,” says Vishal.
