Ratna Pathak Shah says she does not regret calling RRR regressive: 'You can't expect nuance in such a film'

Ratna Pathak Shah was recently in news after she called SS Rajamouli’s critically-acclaimed Golden Globe-nominated film ‘regressive’. The actress has now said that she does not regret her statement. In a recent interview, the actress defended her statement but clarified that it does not mean that RRR is not a ‘smartly-made film’.

RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli, stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR. The period drama is a fictionalized take of two real-life freedom fighters – Alluri Sitaraman Raju and Komaram Bheem. The film also has Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, and Shriya Saran in cameos. The film has been a critical and commercial success, raking in over Rs 1000 crore and garnering Golden Globe nominations. It is also in the running for the Oscars. Speaking at a book launch in December, Ratna Pathak Shah had said, “Films like RRR are so popular today. But it's a regressive film. It looks backwards while we should look forward.”

In an interaction with Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, the actress elaborated, “I don’t regret the statement because that’s what I believe. But it’s my opinion. You need not agree with me. That’s fair enough. And I am not doubting that it’s a very smartly-made film. A lot of effort has gone in, lots of cinematic smarts have gone in, I can see that. The man knows what he is doing.”

She added, “But these kinds of films, and I’m not singling out RRR here, but these kind of large-scale commercial films, which have a lot of money involved, you can’t expect nuance in such a film. How much nuance will Avatar have? How much characterization and nuance will you put in Mission Impossible? People go to watch Tom Cruise and not nuance.”

Ratna Pathak Shah will soon make her debut in Gujarati cinema in the upcoming film Kutch Express. Also starring Manasi Parekh and Darsheel Safary, the film will be released on January 6.