Naga Vamsi calls Karan Johar his ‘inspiration’ after facing flak for ‘disrespecting’ Boney Kapoor

Producer Naga Vamsi recently drew the ire of many when he took part in a roundtable with Boney Kapoor. Many thought he was disrespectful in the interview.

Producer Naga Vamsi recently drew the ire of many after participating in a roundtable discussion with Boney Kapoor for Galatta. Even filmmakers like Hansal Mehta and Sanjay Gupta slammed him for being ‘disrespectful’ towards Boney. Talking to Telugu360, Vamsi clarified that he harbours no ill will towards Boney, and especially not towards Bollywood. (Also Read: Naga Vamsi says he wasn't disrespectful towards Boney Kapoor: ‘Don't need to teach us how to respect elders')

Naga Vamsi said that Karan Johar was his 'inspiration' for coming into the film industry,

Naga Vamsi on his love for Bollywood

When the interviewer mentioned how many people were offended by Vamsi after the interview dropped, the producer acknowledged that people believed he disrespected Bollywood. On the contrary, he called Karan Johar his ‘inspiration’ for pursuing a film career.

He said, “If they really believe I disrespected Boney, I am sorry. I never wanted to disrespect anyone, especially Bollywood. As a south Indian, I was just proud of the kind of work we have done post-COVID. I adore Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, and even Deepika Padukone. Karan Johar is my inspiration for coming to films, not any Telugu director. Ever since I watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, I knew I wanted to make a rich-looking film like that someday.”

On the Boney Kapoor issue

Vamsi also spoke about how people thought he ‘disrespected’ Boney, but the truth was far from it. He acknowledged how everyone dissected everything from how he sat to how he spoke, adding, “Rajamouli made RRR and Baahubali, Prashanth Neel made KGF, Rishab Shetty made Kantara, Sandeep Reddy Vanga made Animal, Atlee made Jawan. Because south Indians made all these films, as a south Indian talking to someone from the north, I just pointed out how well we performed. Boney Kapoor and I were fine after the interview. Now, Pushpa 2 generated records no Hindi film did to date, of course, I will be proud of it. It’s not arrogance.”

What happened

During a roundtable discussion in December, Vamsi and Boney had a disagreement about south cinema vs Bollywood. Vamsi had said, “One thing, sir, you have to accept this. It might sound really harsh. We, South Indians, have changed the way you (Bollywood) look at cinema. Because, you guys (Bollywood), were stuck in making films for Bandra and Juhu. You witnessed a change with Baahubali, RRR, Animal and Jawan,” but Boney disagreed.