Ram Gopal Verma slammed for saying he had no clue of Odisha before casting Odia girl Apsara Rani

Bhubaneswar: Difficult to believe but yes, Ram Gopal Varma, a director who has helmed films across multiple genres and known for his gritty brand of realism in his movies, confesses to have not heard about Odisha for the last 20 years till he met Apsara Rani. He said that he had only heard about Odisha due to the 1999 cyclone.

In a tweet where the director has heaped praises on Apsara Rani, the actress of his ongoing Web film ‘Thriller’, RGV said after “hurricane” of Odisha (read super cyclone) he had not heard of Odisha till he met Apsara.

In a series of tweets, RGV claimed that he had never thought of Odisha as a talent hub for the film industry. The producer also went on to say that he had not even heard about Odisha even since the 1999 Super Cyclone.

“Before meeting Apsara, I dint even hear about Orissa since the 1999 hurricane. But after meeting her, now I realised that Orissa creates all kinds of hurricanes. It’s been a great revelation that
Orissa has such beauties MORE POWER TO ORISSA,” RGV had tweeted on July 6 while sharing a picture of the debutant actress.

RGV’s remarks triggered a huge outcry among the people of Odisha with netizens bashing him on social media platforms Facebook and Twitter. Social media users from Odisha as well as outside slammed the filmmaker in the comment sections for his ‘poor knowledge’.

A Facebook user commented, “These guys always fly in air because of their success. In fact, they are unaware about things happening around. I can bet even a Class 3 student from odisha has better IQ than him. Please don’t expect knowledge from him,he knows a bit about social media that’s a surprise.”

“Dear Ram Gopal Verma, from your above tweet, you have openly exposed your poverty of knowledge and idea on Odisha,’” said another user.

PNN/Agencies