Naga Chaitanya, Akhil condemn Balakrishna’s comment on their grandfather: 'Disrespecting them is degrading ourselves'

Naga Chaitanya and Akhil Akkineni have shared a statement as they condemned Balakrishna's comment on their grandfather Akkineni Nageswara Rao.

Actors Naga Chaitanya and his brother Akhil Akkineni on Tuesday took to Twitter to share a statement in which they’ve indirectly reacted to actor Nandamuri Balakrishna’s recent speech in which he passed a distasteful remark about their grandfather, late legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Balakrishna’s comment has earned strong response on social media.

Naga Chaitanya, Akhil Akkineni have reacted after Balkrishna's distasteful comment.

At the success meet of his latest release Veera Simha Reddy, Balkrishna’s comment about Akkineni Nageswara Rao didn’t go down too well. Talking about his father Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao in his speech, Balakrishna said: “My father Sr NTR had some contemporaries, aa Ranga Rao (referring to SV Ranga Rao), Akkineni, Thokkineni, and some others".

Using the word Thokkineni while referring to the veteran Akkineni was called out by many on social media.

On Tuesday, both Naga Chaitanya and Akhil released a statement in which they said disrespecting legends like Ranga Rao and Nageswara Rao is like disrespecting ourselves. Their statement read, "Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao garu, Akkineni Nageswara Rao garu and S.V Ranga Rao garu's creative contributions have been the pride and pillars of Telugu Cinema. Disrespecting them is degrading ourselves."

In the comments section, people lauded Chaitanya’s matured response to Balakrishna’s gaffe. One user wrote: “A matured person is the one who maintains a well-balanced mindset at all times and situations. A great gesture from Chay and Akhil (sic).” Another user wrote: “Mr. Balakrishna, Borrow some maturity from Chay (sic).”

Nagarjuna is yet to react to the controversy. Balakrishna is known for being a motormouth. In 2021, in an interview to TV 9, he claimed he doesn’t know who AR Rahman is and he doesn't care about his achievements.

Back then, a short clip from the interview had gone viral on social media. Balakrishna said: “I don’t know who Rahman is. I don’t care. Once in a decade, he gives a hit and gets an Oscar award.” Fans had trolled Balakrishna for his cheeky response. AR Rahman had composed the background music for Balakrishna’s 1993 Telugu film, Nippu Ravva.