Dude director Keerthiswaran called out for ‘cheap’ response to criticism, asking influencer not to ‘slide into DMs’

An Instagram influencer took to her stories to share a screengrab of her conversation with director Keerthiswaran and his response to her criticism of Dude.

Debutant director Keerthiswaran has recently garnered praise for his debut film, Dude, starring Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju. However, the filmmaker is now facing criticism for his response to an influencer’s criticism of his film. Here’s what happened.

Keerthiswaran recently directed Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju in Dude.

Influencer exposes conversation with Keerthiswaran

An influencer named Roshini Karthikeyan shared a screenshot of her conversation with Keerthiswaran on her Instagram stories, which has now been deleted. However, it is now circulating on X (formerly Twitter) how Roshini sent Keerthiswaran her criticism of Dude, and he replied, “(laughter emojis)...go and have some life rather than sliding into my DMs.”

Sharing the screenshot of the message on her stories, Roshini claimed, “After watching the film and a short interview clip with Sudhir. As a person who spent my money to watch the film. I decided to share my honest criticism with the director. I expected an upcoming filmmaker to be open to feedback from viewers, but instead he replied like this and this lacks him as a director in the first place. If this is how a new director handles criticism, it speaks volumes about his mindset and his ability to accept feedback. That alone says enough about the intentions behind him and his film.”

Internet calls out Keerthiswaran

Since the conversation circulated on social media, numerous X users have called out Keerthiswaran, calling his response ‘rude’. One person wrote, “Dude Director Keerthishwaran reply to a influencer question about the worst scene in movie. It’s just a Audacity way of response :(“ Another criticised, “Could have atleast respectfully responded to their DM. This is cheap behavior @Keerthiswaran_ and you know it.”

One wrote, “The way she questioned the director is decent. The way he answered is not fair.” An X user even wrote, “Dude go have some healthy view towards woman. What she mentioned was (100 emojis) correct!” One person even compared him to Sandeep Reddy Vanga, writing, “can't take feedback criticism head on like Vanga.” “She was giving her opinion and he rudely responded to her,” wrote one.

Keerthiswaran has yet to respond to the criticism. Dude starred Pradeep, Mamitha and Sarathkumar in lead roles. The film was released in theatres on October 17 and grossed ₹113.25 crore worldwide. It is now streaming on Netflix.