Lyricist Anantha Sriram's recent utterances against Kalki 2898 AD have triggered a debate about how NTR's Dana Veera Soora Karna and other mythological films depicted Karna and others. NTR's select films have faced criticisms from orthodox sections for decades now.
The lionization of Karna has been justified by Leftists and intellectuals. Virata Parvam maker Venu Udugula says, "Every character possesses dual dimensions of good and evil in literature or cinema. In Karna’s case, it seems the lyricist has completely ignored this duality. By dismissing the narrative of a man who faced caste discrimination yet rose as a warrior, don't Anantha Sriram's remarks reflect a one-sided viewpoint?" This is also a defence of NTR's films.
Those who expect characters to be portrayed as per their moral compass and not on the basis of a man-made ideology argue that NTR's films were twisted in nature. "Dana Veera Soora Karna twisted the itihasa for a lazy socialist narrative and did a huge disservice to Mahabharata, the very epic which played a huge role in propping him up," argued Sai Swaroopa Iyer.
Kalki 2898 AD was released in June 2024.
