Vijay Deverakonda in trouble again for 'tribals' remark against Pak during Surya starrer ‘Retro’ event
Fire power: The teaser of Gowtam Tinnanuri’s much-anticipated film Kingdom, starring Vijay Deverakonda, was released a month ago. Within 24 hours, it got more than 10 million views. No surprise there, with its ripped hero, rocking visuals and rousing music. And now, the makers have released what they are calling the first-ever AI-designed thematic video for its soundtrack. It is stunning, with heavy gunfire, flaming arrows, and blazing landscapes. That’s a lot of fire for a one-minute video. If the intention was to amp up the heat before the film’s release on May 30, mission accomplished | PTI
Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda has landed in a soup for his poor choice of words while passionately condemning the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir which claimed the lives of 26 people. He was speaking at the pre-release function of Tamil actor Suriya’s recent film Retro. Vijay was the chief guest of the event which was held in Hyderabad.
Before he spoke about the movie or its lead actor Surya, Vijay started off by addressing the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. “We are all thinking about you, everyone is feeling the pain, everyone is feeling the anger, it shouldn’t have happened. We all stand in support of you,” he said.
Towards the end of his speech, he once again touched upon the subject of Kashmir. “Two years back, I shot in Kashmir for the movie Kushi. I have such great memories,” he said. He felt that education was the solution to ensure that local youth are not brainwashed and are weaned away from terrorism.
He then steered towards criticising Pakistan and its alleged role in the violent incident. “Pakistanis are not able to look after themselves as they don’t have water or power, what will they do coming to our land? India doesn’t have to attack Pakistan, Pakistanis will only get frustrated and attack their government if this continues,” He then said a line which has turned controversial. “They (terrorists) are fighting like how tribals fought 500 years back without applying minimum common sense.”
The line ended up creating a furore. Tribal Lawyers Association has lodged a complaint with the state SC/ST Commission urging them to take action against the actor. In his complaint, lawyer Kishan Raj Chauhan of the Association alleged that Vijay’s comments were derogatory and inflammatory and equated tribal communities to terrorists. A complaint was also lodged with Hyderabad police who have booked a case against the actor.
Vijay later tweeted a clarification. “It has come to my attention that a remark I made during the Retro audio launch event has caused concern among some members of the public. I wish to sincerely clarify: there was absolutely no intention to hurt or target any community, especially our Scheduled Tribes, who I deeply respect and consider an integral part of our country.”
He justified the usage of the word in the context of the Kashmir attack.
“The word "tribe," as I used it, was meant in the historical and dictionary sense - referring to a time centuries ago when human society globally was organized into tribes and clans, often in conflict. It was never a reference to the Scheduled Tribes classification, which was introduced during colonial and post-colonial India and formalized only in the mid-20th century—not even 100 years ago.”
Entertainment