After ‘Naatu Naatu’ from RRR won a Golden Globe on Tuesday, January 10, fans, celebrities, and politicians congratulated the film’s team. Among them was Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who is also the party’s state president in Telangana. While people from across the country, especially the Telugu states, are enthusiastic about the win, Bandi Sanjay’s wishes have been singled out and mocked. The BJP leader had infamously threatened to burn down theatres screening RRR, after a glimpse from the film ahead of its release showed Jr NTR in the role of revered tribal leader Komaram Bheem wearing a skull cap and appearing dressed as a Muslim man. On Wednesday, he congratulated the film’s team on the Golden Globe win and said, “You made India proud at the world stage with this historic achievement.”
When the video introducing Jr NTR as Komaram Bheem in RRR was released in October 2020, it sparked controversy for showing him dressed as a Muslim man. RRR is a fictional story about real-life revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, who are from the Adilabad region in present-day Telangana. Set in the 1920s, the film tells an imagined account of the two leaders meeting and becoming friends. In the film, Jr NTR in the role of Komaram Bheem travels to Delhi in the guise of a Muslim man named Akhtar, to rescue a young tribal girl from Adilabad, who has been abducted by a British Governor and his wife.
When the introduction video was released out of context ahead of the film’s release, Bandi Sanjay had claimed that portraying Komaram Bheem as a Muslim man was an insult to Adivasis. He threatened violence against the makers of RRR and said that theatres screening the film would be burned down if the portrayal offended the sentiments of Adivasis. Many people on social media mocked him for congratulating the film’s team over two years later, after the film saw immense success on a global scale. As part of the BJP’s outreach efforts in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with Bandi Sanjay, had met Jr NTR in August 2022, months after RRR was released and became a phenomenal success.
Hearty Congratulations to @mmkeeravaani garu and the entire team of @RRRMovie for winning the @goldenglobes award for best original song #NaatuNaatu
— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (@bandisanjay_bjp) January 11, 2023
You made India proud at world stage with this historic achievement https://t.co/KKmsBFOfmH
T-BJP Chief Bandi Sanjay who said “I’ll burn all the theatres playing #RRR” is now celebrating the success of #RRR pic.twitter.com/nf0xQUf90t
— YSR (@ysathishreddy) January 11, 2023
Remember @bandisanjay_bjp pic.twitter.com/K7voujcSOb
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 11, 2023
Ab kya hua @bandisanjay_bjp ?
— Vinod Kapri (@vinodkapri) January 11, 2023
AAG Nhi lagoge ?? Jo tum logo ko sabse acha aata hai !! https://t.co/JqpI0MJajE pic.twitter.com/x8MpX7MKmX
It is possible for you to appreciate again after commenting on each movie by BJP people .do you remember @bandisanjay_bjp ? https://t.co/R7xdKfXWCq pic.twitter.com/kUsxtt6JCm
— Nooruddin ira (@NooruddinSonu) January 11, 2023