Amid Venkatesh Maha's dig at KGF, Dasara star Nani says 'mass, commercial films are pillars of Indian cinema'

Dasara star Nani has expressed solidarity with big-budget commercial entertainers.

(Left) Nani in Dasara, (Right) Yash in KGF.

Actor-director Venkatesh Maha courted controversy when he took a swipe at the mindless entertainers that become massive hits at the box office. Even though he did name names, it was clear as day that Venkatesh was criticising director Prashanth Neel's blockbuster KGF series.

It sparked massive outrage on social media and Venkatesh came under a lot of pressure. And it also brought to question the importance of the larger-than-life, masala entertainers to the business of Indian cinema.

Telugu star Nani, who is promoting his upcoming film Dasara has indirectly responded to that debate. He was asked to share his thoughts on commercial movies and their importance in Indian cinema, given that he has done a mix of offbeat, content-driven movies and out-and-out mindless entertainers.

And Nani without thinking too much expressed his solidarity with commercial films.

"Why is our Indian film industry is so big? It's because of commercial entertainers. And if we don't have those films, then there won't be money or revenue in the film industry. There won't be such big systems in the industry. And if you don't have such films, then nobody will ever dare to make good films, because nobody is going to theatres. The backbone, the pillars of Indian cinema are mass, commercial films," Nani told Cinema Express.

Since he aired his passionate take on the KGF series, Venkatesh has been subjected to relentless trolling. He has since issued multiple clarifications on his comments. "I empathize with the emotion of all the fans in everything that happened over the last 24 hours. There's a lot of discussion happened in that panel and the 2 mins you are watching a clip out of the context. It makes me sad that along with me my fellow filmmakers in the panel are also getting trolled. I don't want any one of them to take a hit for my opinion. They are some of the most respected directors in the Telugu film industry and I humbly request you all to protect that (sic)," he said in the latest statement.

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