Nani says his comment against Arshad Warsi over Prabhas' role in Kalki 2898 AD was 'lost in translation' | Exclusive

Nani

Better late than sorry, cautions Nani.

A day after courting controversy for his comment against Arshad Warsi in context to latter's criticism of Prabhas' positioning in summer blockbuster Kalki, Telugu star Nani says he should have worded his reaction better.

On Wednesday evening, the Telugu star began trending online minutes after unveiling the trailer of his upcoming film, Surya's Saturday. But for a reason he wouldn't have preferred. To a journalist's question about Warsi's controversial opinion about Prabhas' turn in Kalki, Nani courted a fresh controversy of his own. Warsi, in a conversation on 'Unfiltered by Samdish', had said Prabhas "was a joker" in Kalki.

"I am really sad. Prabhas was like a joker. I want to see a Mad Max. I want to see Mel Gibson over there. Tumne usko kya bana dia yaar. Kyu karte ho aisa? Mujhe nahin samajh mein aata (What have you made of it? Why do they do such things? I never understand)."

While the English translation of Nani's comment made in Telugu is quoted as, "The person that you're referring to, this must be the most publicity he has got in his life. You are unnecessarily glorifying an unimportant matter." While Nani secured cheers from Prabhas' fans, he received backlash from a section of Hindi film audience, who found his comment an insult to Warsi.

In an interview with mid-day, Nani says it's a case of lost in translation. "I saw online when a language is translated into English, how it might sound. That always happens with social media," he begins.

To Nani, his reaction was natural, courtesy his love for Prabhas. But later, when he watched "the whole video" featuring Warsi, his perspective was changed.

"I had only heard what he had commented because the cut clips were were all over social media, like how mine was everywhere yesterday. See, it's about a very dear person. When it's about a person you really love, you immediately react and say, 'Why are you giving so much importance to an unimportant matter?' But after seeing a lot of reactions on social media, I went back and watched the whole thing in entirety. So, now I understand it. The whole thing has been blown out of proportion through media and social media. And even my reaction has been blown out of proportion," he says.

Nani says actors have to exercise caution while making their opinions public.

"Arshad Warsi ji is a very good actor and we all loved him in Munna Bhai, not just north or south, but the whole of India. It's a household movie. When we sit with our friends in our homes, we can rip films and actors apart. But being actors, we need to be extra careful with our choice of words. So, in that way, him and me, both are victims," he shares.

In the age of internet when no comment by a celebrity is too small to react to, Nani believes it's better if actors own up to their mistakes.

"Definitely, my choice of words was also poor. The biggest thing that you can do is accept your regret. But what I am also saying is that it sounds so bad when it's translated. In this situation, the journalist was constantly trying to bring that question everywhere, and I was trying to say that they are giving it too much importance. Someone mentioned their opinion and there was reaction to it, that's how it started off. One comment from that or this side will be blown out of proportion. And if we slipped, it's high time we took responsibility, whether it's me or someone else. We have to go through this whole phase and only then move on because sometimes emotions are strong and you will react to something and you might feel, 'It was unnecessary, why did I react?'" The actor referring to his upcoming release, where the character decides to vent his anger only on a day of the week, quips, "Like Surya's Saturday, we all need to have that one day when we react and not react the same day so that we can really gauge our words much better."

Nani also acknowledges that Warsi was entitled to his opinion. It was his choice of words that the actor believes could have been altered.

"At the end of the day, what matters is that Kalki is a 1000 crore film. People love it. Of course it doesnt mean that you have to like it. We all have our opinions and everybody can share it and he (Warsi)has a right to share it but it can be with better choice of words. Also, who are we to correct? But somebody asked us about our opinion and we reacted to it."

Towards the end, Nani emphasises that social media fanwars aren't a reflection of the true sentiment shared between Bollywood and South artistes.

"I have been a big fan or directors and actors here and we have grown up watching their films. If you take social media, in Telugu cinema itself, fans fight with each other. Everyday you need a topic for a war. That's how they spend their time morning to evening. That's excitement for them. But let's stop taking social media wars seriously. When we meet each other, we don't think in terns of North-South difference. The maximum difference will be between our favourite food your (laughs). In fact, we want to know more about each other. Now, particularly, cinema is celebrated across. In 2024, there's Indian cinema and we are all like studios operating from different regions, making films in different languages and taking it to the whole of India. There's respect for each other and we express it whenever we get a chance. This has increased now. That's why I guess even a small thing triggers more because we didn't have this (exchange of love) earlier. If such things were happening every other day, no one would have cared about this one. But we have been seeing love for so long, so all these words become big news," he says. Having put the controversy behind him already, Nani signs off, saying, "Tomorrow, I might bump into Arshad Warsi ji and we might give a hug to each other."