Telangana
Veteran Telugu actor-Chalapathi Rao- who is known for his negative roles in the film industry is probably regretting his opinion about women's position in society. He has now been booked by Hyderabad Police at the behest of a woman's organisation for a sexist slur at a film function in Hyderabad on Sunday.
He made this remark at the audio launch of Nagarjuna's son Naga Chaithanya's forthcoming film Rarandoi Veduka Chuddam. It happened so that one of the two anchors of the program asked for his opinion about the tagline of the film, which literally means 'Girls are a disturbance to mental peace'.
Rao said, "What can I say if you ask like that? Women are not disturbance to peace. But, are useful to sleep with." Nagarjuna, Naga Chaithanya and the lead actress Rakul Preet Singh failed to comment immediately and spoke up only when Rao's remarks went viral and he received a backlash from women's organisation.
Rao, however, tendered an apology while speaking to a TV channel. He also came out on Facebook and tendered another apology after clarifying his statement. Meanwhile, Nagarjuna also Tweeted saying," always respect women personally and in my films. I definitely do not agree with Chalapathi Rao's derogatory comments."
I always respect women personally and in my films/I definitely do not agree wt Chalapati rao's derogatory comments/dinosaurs do not exist!!🙏
— Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) May 23, 2017Meanwhile, Twitter is flooded with criticism for the actor.
Wow. Blame the media. How easy. There's no tone of regret too. What a sad scenario. #ChalapathiRao pic.twitter.com/hqP15JXlbV
— Pranita Jonnalagedda (@PranitaRavi) May 23, 2017What @ramsayz mentioned in the note is just perfect! #ChalapathiRao #chalapatirao pic.twitter.com/2WcFlQ2asL
— Usha Reddy Vavveti ✨ (@VavvetiUsha) May 23, 2017We @alluarjun fans Boycotting RRVC due to #ChalapathiRao comments on women. Shame on you @chay_akkineni @Rakulpreet for being silent
— Duvvada Jagannadham (@AlluSwagg) May 23, 2017I'd probably throw the mic on your face ! #ChalapathiRao #Wtf https://t.co/g9PIdmE0lY
— Rajeshwari Prasad (@RajeshwariGowd) May 23, 2017