Mumbai: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma revealed that he was bothered when Kangana Ranaut called Urmila Matondkar a ‘soft porn star’ who is ‘not known for her acting, for sure’. But, upheld the right of Freedom of Speech. In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, RGV said, “The whole point of social media, I feel, is that people express opinions. Sometimes, they use language which could be very offensive, but that is the whole point of freedom of speech. If it doesn’t offend somebody, why do you need freedom? I would like to believe that it is in distaste and in the context of my personal feelings about Urmila, about her performance, about whatever she said. Now, that is Kangana’s viewpoint, so I didn’t say anything about Kangana saying it. As a director, I gave my feeling about how versatile an actor Urmila is.” Also Read – ‘Kangana Ranaut Is Being Vicious, Must Dignify Her Responses’, Inside Edge Actor Tanuj Virwani | Exclusive
After Kangana’s attack on Urmila, Ram Gopal Varma had tweeted, “Not wanting to get into slanging matches with anyone, I believe that @UrmilaMatondkar has more than proved her versatile talent in enacting such diversely complex roles as in RANGEELA, SATYA, KAUN, BHOOT, EK HASEENA THI etc.” Also Read – Kangana Ranaut Feels She Will Not Last More Than a Week After Instagram Deletes Her Post Threatening To Demolish Covid-19
Commenting on if he was bothered by Kangana’s comment on Urmila, given his relationship with the veteran actor, he said, “Yes, it bothers me, but what I am saying is that freedom of speech is fundamentally about that. If it doesn’t bother somebody, what is the point of speaking? When you say you need freedom of speech, it is only when it offends somebody. Now, I say a lot of things about a lot of people. I am sure they get bothered and offended. So, when I do that, I don’t have the right to talk about somebody else saying something about someone.” Also Read – Kangana Ranaut Tests Positive For Coronavirus: Had No Idea This Virus Is Partying In My Body
RGV has worked with Urmila in films such as Satya, Rangeela and Bhoot, which are also considered her best performances.
Last year, Urmila had said in an interview that Kangana should introspect about the frug culture in her home state Himachal Pradesh after she accused Bollywood of Drug culture post-Sushant Singh Rajput death. Kangana hit back at Urmila on a personal level and said, “Pulling faces, making a mockery out of my struggles, and attacking me on the basis of the fact that I’m trying to please BJP for a ticket. Well, one doesn’t have to be a genius to figure for me it isn’t very difficult to get a ticket. Even Urmila, she is a soft porn star. I know it’s very blatant. But she isn’t known for her acting for sure. What is she known for? For doing soft porn right? If she can get a ticket, why won’t I get a ticket?” The statement further escalated to an ugly war of words.