Harish Shankar Apologises Mahesh Babu Fans

Director Harish Shankar recently found himself in the middle of a social media controversy after a tweet related to the upcoming film Ustaad Bhagat Singh. The movie stars Pawan Kalyan in the lead role and is one of the most anticipated films in Tollywood. However, a small comment on Twitter created a big fan war between the followers of Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh is directed by Harish Shankar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers. The film features Sreeleela and Raashi Khanna as the female leads, while the music is composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The movie is scheduled to release worldwide on March 19 as a Ugadi special. As the release date is getting closer, the film’s team has been actively promoting it through teasers, posters, and songs.

Recently, the makers released a mass song titled “Koller Ettheyaali.” The song quickly became popular on social media and increased the excitement among fans. Many people believe that Pawan Kalyan’s style and Harish Shankar’s mass storytelling will make the film a big entertainer.

However, during the promotions, a tweet by Harish Shankar unexpectedly created controversy. A fan of Pawan Kalyan wrote on Twitter that with the release of Ustaad Bhagat Singh, even the “BoB records” should be broken. BoB is a term many fans use for Mahesh Babu. When Harish Shankar replied to that tweet with the word Tathastu (meaning “so be it”), Mahesh Babu’s fans became upset.

Many fans felt that the reply looked like a comment against Mahesh Babu’s box office records. Soon, social media was filled with trolling and criticism directed at the director. Some angry fans even threatened to boycott Ustaad Bhagat Singh. At the same time, Pawan Kalyan’s fans came forward to support Harish Shankar, and a heated argument began between the two fan groups online.

Seeing the growing controversy, Harish Shankar quickly clarified what has really happened. He released a note explaining that he had replied to the tweet in a hurry without reading it properly. According to him, his team informed him about the misunderstanding within minutes, and he immediately deleted the tweet.

He 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."

"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. You can even check the tweets I posted on his birthday about Pokiri to understand the love and respect I have for him. However, if that brief moment caused any hurt to people’s feelings, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart," he added

The director also clearly stated that for a film to create records, it needs the love and support of fans from all heroes and families alike. He wrote that he have enough common sense not to post such things when his film is releasing in just 10 days. He concluded to please accept sincere apologies for this unintentional mistake and continue to support the film.