Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ranga Reddy Urban District President, Vanipally Srinivas Reddy, declared full support to anyone who murders prominent actor Prakash Raj after the latter’s comments at a Kerala literary festival on Hindu gods and mythological stories went viral.
During a press conference in Karmanghat on Wednesday, April 22, the BJP leader expressed anger at the actor and demanded a complete boycott by the Telugu movie industry.
“You cannot keep insulting our gods. We will not let you work,” he said.
“Those times when Lord Ram and Lord Krishna were portrayed as comic characters in a movie have long gone. This is new Bharat. We will not keep quiet,” he alleged.
He urged the Telugu movie industry’s leading producers not to give Prakash Raj any roles.
The BJP leader also took a swipe at the actor’s late mother, saying Prakash Raj calls himself an atheist but had no issue burying her according to Christian rites.
“He attacks Sanatan Dharma in the guise of an atheist,” Reddy claimed.
So far, the actor has received a legal notice from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) board member and BJP leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy, while actress Karate Kalyani has filed a police complaint.
What did Prakash Raj say about Ramayana?
Prakash Raj described a fictional play based on Ramayana, where ants are the characters, instead of human beings.
According to his story, Ram, Sita and Lakshman from North India travel down south during their exile and enter a forest farm owned by Ravan.
A hungry Lakshman sees the forest fruits and tells Ram he desires to eat them. “There are fruits. Can we eat?” asks Lakshman. To which Ram says, “No, this is somebody’s farm.”
“But is it stealing?” asks Laksman
“If we are hungry, we can eat,” replies Ram.
When they finish eating, they are spotted by Shurpanakha and Ravan. “Shurpanakha calls her brother and complains about them. But Ravan tells her they are hungry, let them eat,” says Prakash Raj.
Ram calls the brother-sister duo ‘tribals,’ to which Ravan replies they are the owners of the forest. “Since you have eaten the fruit, you have to pay the price,” says Ravan and asks his sister to calculate, which comes to USD 2,000 with GST.
The audience at the literature festival burst into laughter, so did Ramakrishnan.
Ram says we do not have money. So Ravan says, give them 20 per cent discount. Ram still says we don’t have any money. At this, Ravan says, ‘You are not tourists here. You have come in search of food. Since you have eaten the fruits, the seeds are there na, plant it turn it into a tree and go,’” says Prakash Raj.
“What is your name – I am Ram from North.”
“I am Ravan from South, nice meeting you”
And they leave, concludes Prakash Raj.
The play is presented as a satire on the perceived imposition of Hindi.
