Ustaad Bhagat Singh Director Harish Shankar Issues Clarification About Viral Post Mocking Varanasi Star Mahesh Babu

Tollywood star Mahesh Babu is currently busy with the shoot of one of the biggest movies in Indian cinema. Titled Varanasi, the globe-trotting and time-jumping epic has unveiled its first trailer, generating immense excitement among fans in India and abroad. Currently facing a slump at the box office since none of his movies of late have been commercially and critically well-received, all eyes are on Varanasi, directed by SS Rajamouli.

Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyan's Ustaad Bhagat Singh director Harish Shankar appeared to take a dig at the collections of Mahesh Babu's movies. Immense trolling followed and he had to issue an apology to the actor's fans.  

Also read: Dhurandhar 2 Collects 7X More Than Ustaad Bhagat Singh For US Premieres

Harish unknowingly triggered Mahesh Babu’s fandom by replying “Thadasthu” to a circulating post on X that indirectly mocked Mahesh Babu and the collections of his movies at the box office. The reply quickly went viral and did not go down well with Mahesh Babu fans, who started criticising the director online.

Also read: Why Is Internet Trolling Hansika With 'Karma' Posts After Her Divorce?

As the controversy snowballed, Harish took to social media and shared a detailed note explaining the situation. He wrote, “Yesterday was a very busy day. I had a meeting with the board officials after the censor, visited Peddamma Temple to seek blessings, took care of post-production work, did the final checks for the song promo, and also completed a round of promotions before heading to Thaman’s studio for the background score.” He further explained that he was replying to several messages at the same time and unintentionally quoted a tweet without reading it fully.

“During this time, I was also replying to journalists, well-wishers, and fans who appreciated the promo and were sending their wishes. In that rush, I only partially read a tweet and quoted it unintentionally. Within a minute, my team alerted me and asked me to read the tweet completely. I immediately realized the mistake and deleted it,” he stated.

The director also made it clear that he has immense respect for Mahesh Babu and never intended to hurt him or his fans. “I have immense respect for Superstar Mahesh Babu garu. In fact, I have always believed that many records will be created under his name with Varanasi. This was an unintentional mistake with absolutely no intention to hurt him or his fans,” he wrote.

Harish also apologised if the incident hurt anyone’s feelings, saying, “However, if that brief moment caused any hurt to people’s feelings, I sincerely apologise from the bottom of my heart. For a film to create records, it needs the love and support of fans from all heroes and families alike. I have enough common sense not to post such things when my film is releasing in just 10 days,” he mentioned.

Harish's clarification to Mahesh Babu's fans is expected to take some heat off as the director gears up for the release of Ustaad Bhagat Singh on March 19. This film will release alongside Ranveer Singh starrer Dhurandhar: The Revenge on the occasion of Eid.