Ram Gopal Varma at an event.
Highlights
- "My doctor just told me that I tested positive with Corona," he tweeted
- "Now he tells me it's an April Fool joke," he added
- Ram Gopal Varma later apologised for his tweets
Ram Gopal Varma should have known better than cracking a joke about a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives all over the world. The filmmaker, who defended his April Fool Day prank as a joke, was schooled by a section of the Internet, who though that his attempt at being funny was highly "insensitive." On Wednesday night, the filmmaker posted a tweet that read ,"My doctor just told me that I tested positive with corona." A few minutes later, the Sarkar director posted on his Twitter handle, "Sorry to disappoint, but now he tells me it's an April Fool joke. It's his fault and not mine." Twitter users were reasonably upset with Mr Varma's distasteful humour. A Twitter user called his post a "cheap joke." Another user wrote: "Shame on Ram Gopal Varma."
Read Ram Gopal Varma's tweets here:
Many Twitter users shared a similar school of thought. "When country is in so much pain and ailments throughout and idiot like Ram Gopal Varma are celebrating April fool with such a sensitive topic," wrote a Twitter user.
Here are some of the tweets:
A few hours later, Ram Gopal Varma apologised for his tweet and he wrote: "Anyway I am just trying to make light of a grim situation but the joke is on me and if I dint offend anyone I sincerely apologise to them."
Ram Gopal Varma has directed films like Satya, Sarkar, Sarkar Raj, Company, Rangeela, Nishabd, Aag, Department and Naach, among many others.
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, lockdowns have been imposed in several countries. In India, a three-week long nationwide lockdown has been imposed by PM Narendra Modi. The novel virus originated in Wuhan (China) last year, has been described as a "pandemic" by the WHO (World Health Organisation).