'Animal' event: Minister stirs controversy as he predicts Telugu industry dominance over Bollywood

Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, and Anil Kapoor attended the ‘Animal’ pre-release event in Hyderabad on November 27.

At the event, a politician's speech predicting Telugu industry supremacy over Bollywood created an awkward moment.

In the video doing rounds on the internet, Malla Reddy, Minister of Labour and Employment of Telangana, said, ‘Ek baat bolna chahta hoon mai. Agle paanch saal mai, Bollywood and Hollywood, pura ruling karega humara Telugu industry. Ek saal ke baad Hyderabad shift hona padta, kyu bole toh Bombay purana hogaya, Bengaluru traffic jam hogaya. Hindustan mai ek he city hai, woh Hyderabad ( I want to say one thing. In the next five years, Bollywood and Hollywood will be ruled by our Telugu industry. After a year, everyone will have to move to Hyderabad because, you see, Mumbai has become outdated, and Bengaluru is stuck in traffic jams. In India, there is only one city, that’s Hyderabad).’

He continued, ‘Jaise humare Telugu log, itne smart log hai, Rajamouli, dilwale Dil Raju and humara naya Sandeep aaya. Humara pura Hindustan Hollywood aur Bollywood ko ruling karega. Humara Telugu people ‘smart smart smart’ log hai. Dekho humara heroine? Kitne smart hai. Pushpa toh dhoom macha ke chhod diya (Like our Telugu people, who are so smart, we have Rajamouli, the heartwarming Dil Raju, and our new talent Sandeep. Our Telugu people are very smart).’

Fans on the Internet found Reddy's remarks insulting and wished someone had interrupted him during the speech.

They expressed confusion about the industry's positive response.

However, Mahesh Babu lauded Ranbir as the country's finest actor.

He said, ‘I have told him this before also when I met him but I don’t think he took me seriously. So today, on this stage, I’m saying that I’m a huge Ranbir Kapoor fan and in my opinion, he is the best actor in India.’

Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, ‘Animal’ will be released in cinemas on December 1.

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