Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who once called Arnab Goswami a ‘news prostitute,’ has landed himself in trouble for a tweet on the BJP’s Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. A case had been filed against Varma, prompting the controversial filmmaker to issue a clarification.
Varma had tweeted, “If DRAUPADI is the PRESIDENT who are the PANDAVAS ? And more importantly, who are the KAURAVAS?”
Varma’s tweet evoked angry reactions from Hindus as one wrote, “This is an extremely misogynistic and casteist slur against Draupadi Murmu. Hang your head in shame, sexist rogue!” Another commented, “That’s like someone asking u ‘because you are anal all the time, were you born of anal sex”? It sounds clever but is just unnecessarily offensive.”
Faced with growing outrage, Varma issued a clarification. He wrote, “This was said just in an earnest irony and not intended in any other way ..Draupadi in Mahabharata is my faviourate character but Since the name is such a rarity I just remembered the associated characters and hence my expression. Not at all intended to hurt sentiments of anyone.”
News18 anchor Amish Devgan tweeted, “Mr Verma your name Is RAM but you have thinking of Ravana . Suitable agencies should say Ram-Ram to him.”
This was said just in an earnest irony and not intended in any other way ..Draupadi in Mahabharata is my faviourate character but Since the name is such a rarity I just remembered the associated characters and hence my expression. Not at all intended to hurt sentiments of anyone https://t.co/q9EZ5TcIIV
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) June 24, 2022
While Murmu is the BJP candidate for the Presidential elections, Yashwant Sinha has been declared the opposition candidate.
In 2020, Varma had launched an all-out attack on Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami for his relentless coverage of the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Incensed by Goswami’s on-air meltdown where he sought to expose the ‘criminal side’ of Bollywood, Varma had urged top actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra to break their silence. Varma had later released the first look of his next film on Arnab Goswami.