Telugu filmmaker Naga Vamsi, known for films like Jersey and Lucky Baskhar, lost his cool at the media at a recent event related to his film MAD Square. He challenged the press and reviewers to “ban” him, adding that while he might still promote his films and survive, the media industry will collapse.
On Monday, Vamsi called for a press conference in Hyderabad to speak about MAD Square and its success, and it was then that he decided to criticise film reviewers and critics. During the interaction, he lost his cool after some journalists and critics claimed that MAD Square was not as good as its predecessor, the 2023 film MAD. The filmmaker mentioned that certain critics wrote how MAD Square succeeded at the box office only because its competition, Robinhood, failed to impress the audience.
“Do people not know what they like and don’t like, or do you know it all? Your websites and YouTube channels run because we give you content and interviews. We provide ads too, so try not to kill cinema, because you exist because of this industry,” he blasted the media.
When some journalists responded that the cast and team of a film give interviews mainly to promote the film, Vamsi went on to challenge them to ban his films. “I dare you to ban me. Ban me and my films, don’t review them, and don’t take my ads. Let’s see how it works then,” he stated.
“I’ll still find a way to promote my films; I’ll take on that headache. But how will you run? You exist because of the industry,” he added.
The filmmaker then went on to urge the audience to not take reviews seriously, as they are personal opinions and “not election results”. “It’s not like an election result where the majority opinion counts. If a man fights with his wife at home and gives a bad review because of that, it’s no surprise. Don’t believe reviews. Everyone liked Lucky Baskhar, but reviewers didn’t praise it,” he said.
MAD Square stars Narne Nithiin, Sangeeth Sobhan, Ram Nithin, and Priyanka Jawalkar in lead roles, and it has been directed by Kalyan Shankar, while Vamsi has produced it.
The filmmaker is also producing Vijay Deverakonda’s highly-anticopated film, Kingdom, the shooting of which is underway.
