Veteran Telugu actor Tammareddy Chalapathi Rao, who is known for playing comic and villain roles in over 600 Telugu films, said at an event that girls were not harmful, but useful in bed. After facing a backlash from fans and colleagues, Rao now says that his comments had been misinterpreted.
During the pre-release event of Rarandoi Veduka Chuddam starring Naga Chaitanya and Rakul Preet Singh, when the host asked the senior artise for his views on Naga Chaitanya’s dialogue about girls (“Girls are injurious to the peace of mind”), Chalapathi Rao said that girls were fit for sleeping around with men. “Ammayilu hanikaram kadu kani… Pakkalo ki paniki vastharu,” he said.
Watch the video here:
Akkineni Nagarjuna, the producer of the film, condemned Rao’s comments on Twitter.
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, 2017
Rakul Preet Singh, too, released an official statement on the matter.
#respectwomen pic.twitter.com/mXYZCvMPwI
— Rakul Preet (@Rakulpreet) May 23, 2017
Meanwhile, Rao continues to receive flak for his statements on social media.
Disgusting person, this actor Chalapathi Rao. Says girls are only good to sleep with. Worse, is how others laugh: https://t.co/POZKeiTcXj
— T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) May 23, 2017
I hope Mr. Chalapathi Rao knows that the whole world isn’t a Dank Meme page. You can’t just say crude shit like that.
— Venkat (@TestTubeBaba) May 23, 2017
So far, Rao has released an apology of sorts, saying his statement had been misunderstood.
He says:
“Greetings to all. Especially the womankind. Especially to them because I got to know that in the function, the words I spoke upset some. From various sources and newspapers I got to know. I wish to ask that please don’t take my words as double meaning things. I spoke with sincerity and anger on being asked if a woman is harmful. I meant to say women are not snakes, or harmful. And that’s why we share our bed with them; I meant it as we need a woman in our life. Even people like Donald Trump and Obama have women in their lives. I lost my wife, never remarried, did not look at other women, brought my kids up on my own. I have been in films for 50 years and behaved only with dignity around women. Some TV channel interpreted my comments wrongly. And it’s spreading around like cancer. I’m not afraid of criticism; I don’t hurt anyone, I won’t be hurt by anyone as well. But if you still think I hurt you, I’m sorry.”
Feature Image: Telugucinema.net
