Karthi's Tirupati laddu remark has been grabbing the headlines for quite some time. Now, actor and Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Pawan Kalyan, expressed why it was important for Karthi to apologise amid the Tirupati Laddu controversy.
During his interview with Thanthi TV, he was questioned about the controversy. To which, Pawan stated that many people laughed at Karthi's comment, which set a bad image.
He also claimed that he apologised because he feared that the controversy will have a negative impact on his film Sathyam Sundaram. He said, "See, I'll tell you what happened. Karthi is a devotee. I have seen him and Suriya visiting Tirupati temple. He made a light-hearted speech. He did not say anything wrong. It's not wrong in that sense. But he knows what I meant. Actors are somebody who everyone looks up to. When you convey a message or crack a joke, it becomes a practice for everyone. "
"Lots of people sitting behind him laughed at his remark. It's an insult," he added.
He was further questioned if Karthi apologised because of the fear of the after-effects of his film, Sathyam Sundaram. Speaking about the same, he said, "No, no. I look at the Tamil film industry as my brothers. My friends were all born and brought up in Chennai. How will I be against them?"
Karthi graced the pre-release event of Sathyam Sundaram on Monday (September 23) in Hyderabad. During the event, he showcased memes and one of them was about laddus. He reacted to it and said, "Ippudu laddu gurinchi maatladakodadu (we should not talk about laddu now); it's a sensitive topic, manakoddadi (we don’t want)."
It sparked a controversy when Pawan took offence and warned the industry. Commenting on his laddu remark, he stated, "You’re joking about laddu... I saw how it was talked about at a movie event yesterday, how laddu is a sensitive issue. Don’t you ever say that, no? Don’t you ever dare to say that, please. I respect you as actors, but when it comes to Sanatana Dharma, please, you have to think a hundred times before you say a word.”
Soon after, Karthi issued an apology on X and Pawan Kalyan accepted it.The Supreme Court tugged up Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for going public with allegations about Tirupati laddus. On October 2, Pawan remarked that the Supreme Court never indicated that the prasadam at the Tirupati temple was not unadulterated.
