Arshad Warsi's 'Prabhas joker' comment: Sudheer Babu, Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Nani lash out

Arshad Warsi probably had no idea what a chaos his one statement on a recently released chat show would cause. In a lengthy interview with Samdish Bhatia, Arshad had said that he felt Prabhas was made to look like a "joker" in Kalki 2898 AD. Arshad had praised Amitabh Bachchan but said that he was sad to see Prabhas like that.

What Arshad Warsi said

"Prabhas, I am really sad, why was he... he was like a joker. Why? 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 nahi samajh mein aata (What have you made of it? Why do they do such things I never understand)," the Munna Bhai MBBS actor had said in the interview.

Sudheer Babu reacts

Sudheer Babu took to X and said it was an absence of 'professionalism' from Arshad Warsi to bad mouth Prabhas. "It's okay to criticize constructively but it's never okay to bad-mouth. Never expected the absence of professionalism from Arshad Warsi. Prabhas's stature is too big for comments coming from small minds," he wrote.

Siddhu Jonnalagadda calls for mutual respect in society

Siddhu Jonnalagadda had also taken to social media to share a lengthy note on the topic. Siddhu called for mutual respect in the industry and said that one should have an opinion but a constructive one. "Everybody has a right to an opinion. We all like/hate films and actors according to our whims and fancies and that is alright. But, how you express that opinion matters, big time. Especially when you are a member of the same community and know how hard it is to find a footing here and then to sustain it," he wrote.

"We are all game for some constructive criticism, but terms like 'joker' don't exactly scream the same. Well, it is no joke that #Kalki is the pride of Indian cinema and Mr Nag Ashwin has made something class apart. Certainly not funny that he made a film that collected over ₹100 Cr. Prabhas Anna is one of the biggest stars of Indian cinema and there is a reason behind it. It's called 'the X Factor'. His stardom is beyond successes because his failures make more money than we can fathom. He is one of the strong pillars behind #Kalki success. These are just facts even if I'm fanboying here," he further added.

At a recently held press conference, Nani also supported Prabhas and said, "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."