Old video of SS Rajamouli calling Hrithik Roshan 'nothing in front of Prabhas' earns internet's ire: 'Not humble at all'

An old clip of filmmaker SS Rajamouli hyping up Prabhas at the expense of Hrithik Roshan has the internet divided. The clip, from 2009, includes a section of the filmmaker’s speech at the audio launch of Prabhas’ film Billa and shows Rajamouli comparing him with Hrithik. After it was recently posted on Reddit, many criticized the filmmaker for the remark.

The clip was shared on the subreddit Bolly Blinds n Gossip on Monday afternoon. It shows Rajamouli on stage at the event from 2009, talking about the film. Speaking in Telugu, he says, “When Dhoom 2 released two years ago, I wondered why only Bollywood can make such quality films. Don’t we have heroes like Hrithik Roshan? I just saw the songs, poster and trailer of Billa, and I can only say one thing. Hrithik Roshan is nothing in front of Prabhas. I’d like to thank Meher Ramesh (director) for taking Telugu cinema to Hollywood level.”

Reacting to the comment, one Reddit user wrote, “SSR was definitely saying that to hype up the fans. I'm sure he doesn't believe that as well.” Others criticized the filmmaker saying Prabhas was not an established star at the time while Hrithik had already delivered multiple solo hits. “I always thought Rajamouli was very humble in his statements but this one says otherwise,” commented one. However, a few defended the filmmaker too. One user wrote, “He's just saying it to hype the prabhas and the movie.”

Billa was a remake of Rajinikanth’s 1980 hit of the same name, which was itself a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s 1978 hit Don. The action thriller had Prabhas in a double role, and also starred Anushka Shetty, Hansika Motwani, Namitha, Krishnam Raju, and Rahman. The film did not succeed at the box office, earning only Rs 26 crore.

Rajamouli eventually directed Prabhas in the Baahubali series, which ended up as India’s highest-grossing film franchise. The actor has since crossed over to Bollywood too with films like Saaho and the upcoming pan-India epic Adipurush.