Ustaad Bhagat Singh director Harish Shankar breaks silence on trolls as film struggles at box office: 'I don't care'

Ustaad Bhagat Singh stars Pawan Kalyan, Rashii Khanna and Sreeleela. Director Harish Shankar has said that he only takes constructive criticism.

Pawan Kalyan, Sreeleela and Raashii Khanna’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh was released in theatres last week. The film has been affected amid the storm created by Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar The Revenge. The spy thriller, which clashed with the Telugu release, has been shattering box office records over the past few days, leaving little room for Pawan Kalyan’s film to make a significant impact at the ticket windows.

Harish Shankar's Ustaad Bhagat Singh clashed at the box office with Dhurandhar The Revenge.

What the director said

In a fan interaction event, director Harish Shankar has broken his silence on the negative reviews of the film as well as its box office numbers. He directly addressed the troll comments and said, “Trollers are more than free to troll anything, I take constructive criticism. Like, ‘the scene was not very well written’ or ‘it could have been written much better,’ ‘the first half was little slow’... I will take the constructive criticism and I don't think of taking the troll material seriously because their identity, their whereabouts are not known. They themselves are too insecure to reveal their identity.”

‘I block or complain when they use abusive language’

He continued, “If I say something, I take accountability and responsibility for it. When people throw stones in the dark it's not the same. The way I've been trolled, I would've quit Twitter long ago. I don't care about trolls or those bringing up collections. The first people to troll me are my parents when I told them I wanted to work in films. It's not new when someone says, what makes you think you can direct? I block or complain when they use abusive language or cross a line. I feel successful that I crossed all odds to release this film in theatres.”

Helmed by Harish Shankar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, Ustaad Bhagat Singh is an adaptation of Atlee and Vijay’s 2016 film Theri. The film has been in production since 2023. The music and background score have been composed by Devi Sri Prasad and Thaman S. The film has not shown any growth in its collections and is yet to cross ₹100 crore after one week. It also received largely mixed response upon release.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh also features actors Ashutosh Rana, Nawab Shah, BS Avinash, R Parthiban, Gautami, and Chammak Chandra in pivotal roles. This is Harish and Pawan’s second film after their 2012 hit Gabbar Singh, a remake of the 2010 hit Dabangg.