Prem responds to controversial song in Shivaraj Kumar, Sudeep's The Villain

Director Prem has given a clarification over a controversial line from a song in the upcoming Kannada movie, The Villain, which stars Kiccha Sudeep and Shivaraj Kumar. The filmmaker has stated that the lyrics were not intended to "hurt anyone" and requested Kannada movie fans to stop fighting over the issue.

According to Prem, he wrote the lyrics based on the plot of the movie. "There is no need for me to create controversy to garner publicity for my movie...my intentions is not to hurt anyone.." he said in a Facebook live.

Prem appealed to the fans of all the stars like Darshan, Puneeth Rajkumar, Yash, Upendra and others to encourage the movies of all the actors and not just one star as it helps the film industry to grow. "We hear about other languages movies doing Rs 100 crore or Rs 50 crore in Karnataka. If we continue to pull each others' legs a Kannada film will never achieve such a feat," he claimed.

Prem says that the Sandalwood movies too have potential to do similar business and he hopes that the audience's support will make it a reality.

What is the controversy all about?

The song titled, 'Ninne Monne Bandaveralla Number 1 Anthaaro', [ which roughly translates to - rookie actors declare themselves as superstars- in Kannada]  had not gone well with the fans of many stars as they felt that Prem was taking potshots at other actors. Prem's clarification has put an end to the controversy.

The shooting of the track was wrapped up recently. "#TheVillain MASS SONG "NINNE MONNE BANDAVARELLA NUMBER 1 ANTHAARO" shoot done✅ Young & Energetic Shivanna has danced superbly & has done a brilliant job in this mass number!This marks the end of Shivannas portions!Song is choreographed by V.Nagesh Master.Hope u guys enjoy this. [sic]" the director tweeted recently.

Sudeep and Shivanna-starrer The Villain is a mega-budget movie produced by C Manohar.