Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ Director Apologizes to Mahesh Babu Fans after ‘Bob’ Tweet: ‘Many records will be created under his name with ‘Varanasi’’

Filmmaker Harish Shankar, who is currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming biggie, “Ustaad Bhagat Singh” featuring Pawan Kalyan, recently landed in controversy over a post he made on X (previously known as Twitter).

The filmmaker responded to a tweet suggesting that his film would break the records achieved by Mahesh Babu’s films referring to actor's nickname 'Bob'. As soon as Harish replied to the tweet saying “Thadasthu” (Granted), it triggered MB fans, who criticized him on social media.

Taking to social media, the filmmaker explained the situation and wrote, “Yesterday was a very busy day. I had a meeting with the board officials after the censor, visited Peddamma Temple to seek blessings, took care of post-production work, did the final checks for the song promo, and also completed a round of promotions before heading to Thaman’s studio for the background score.”

“During this time, I was also replying to journalists, well-wishers, and fans who appreciated the promo and were sending their wishes. In that rush, I only partially read a tweet and quoted it unintentionally. Within a minute, my team alerted me and asked me to read the tweet completely. I immediately realized the mistake and deleted it,” he added.

Harish shared that he never intended to hurt any Mahesh Babu fans and stated, “I have immense respect for Superstar Mahesh Babu garu. In fact, I have always believed that many records will be created under his name with ‘Varanasi.’ This was an unintentional mistake with absolutely no intention to hurt him or his fans.”

The director apologized and concluded, “However, if that brief moment caused any hurt to people’s feelings, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart. For a film to create records, it needs the love and support of fans from all heroes and families alike. I have enough common sense not to post such things when my film is releasing in just 10 days.”

“Ustaad Bhagat Singh” is set to hit the screens on March 19 and will lock horns with Ranveer Singh’s “Dhurandhar 2.”