Ram Gopal Varma on Mahesh Babu's statement: How can he generalise Bollywood

Amid the whole Hindi vs South film debate, Mahesh Babu's latest statement has sent shockwaves across the nation. The prolific actor has said that he wouldn't want to "squander" his time in Bollywood. He reportedly further said that Bollywood can't afford him. The actor has now issued clarification on what he truly meant.

The previous statement

"I may come across as arrogant, but I have received numerous offers in Hindi. However, I believe they cannot afford me. I don't want to squander any of my time or others. I never considered leaving Telugu cinema or going to other places, because of the fame and love I have here. I've always imagined making films here and seeing them grow in popularity, and that dream is now becoming a reality. I couldn't be more please," the actor had reportedly said at Adivi Sesh's 'Major' trailer launch.

Mahesh Babu's team releases an official statement

"Mahesh has clarified that he loves cinema and respects all languages. He said he is comfortable doing the film where he has been working. Mahesh said he is happy to see his dream coming true as Telugu cinema is going places."

Ram Gopal Varma, Mukesh Bhatt react

"It is his choice as an actor. But I honestly didn't understand what he meant by Bollywood can't afford him. I am still unable to figure out what he meant by that because the point is, if you see the recent South Indian films, they were dubbed and released and they made whatever money they did," RGV told India Today.

"Also, first of all, Bollywood is not a company. It is a label given by the media. An individual movie company or a production house will ask you to do a film at a particular cost, so how can he generalise Bollywood, I don't understand that. Bollywood is not a company, so his context is not understood," he further added.

Mukesh Bhatt weighs in

"He is a very successful actor and keeping to his requisite of what he wants to get in terms of gratification of our films, if Bollywood cannot work to his expectations, then there is nothing wrong with it," Mukesh Bhatt told the website.