Jr NTR and Ram Charan in a still from RRR
Three words tweeted by Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty have blown up the Internet, triggering a tense exchange between him and producer Shobu Yarlagadda on Twitter. It all began when Mr Pookutty tweeted this “Gay love story.” He was commenting on a friend's dismissive post about the film RRR, made by Baahubali director SS Rajamouli. Shobu Yarlagadda, who produced Baahubali, took offence, not only over Resul Pookutty's reduction of RRR but also at what he saw as negative commentary on the film, starring Jr NTR and Ram Charan in the lead roles. Challenged by Mr Yarlagadda, Resul Pookutty defended himself in a tweet saying he meant no offence and it was a private conversation with a friend.
"I don't think RRR is a gay love story as you say but even if it was, is 'gay love story' a bad thing? How can you justify using this? Extremely disappointed that someone of your accomplishments can stoop so low," Shobu Yarlagadda tweeted to Resul Pookutty indignantly. "Agree totally. Absolutely nothing wrong even if it was. I merely quoted to my friend, banter that already exists in public domain and nothing else. There is no stooping factor in this. You don't have to take it seriously, Shobu, I didn't mean any offense to any stake holders. I rest my case here,” Resul Pookutty tweeted in his damage-control response.
See their exchange here:
This is the original conversation in which Resul Pookutty, who won a Sound Mixing Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, condensed his opinion of RRR into “Gay love story.” In the comments, he also described Alia Bhatt's role in the film as a “prop,” discovering the hard way that there's no such thing as a private conversation on Twitter.
RRR is a period drama set in pre-independence India which fictionalizes the lives of real-life revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, played respectively by Ram Charan and Jr NTR. The spectacular RRR, presented as a pan-India movie, was well-received by critics and destroyed the box office, making over Rs 1,200 crore worldwide.