Filmmaker Atlee Kumar recently appeared on The Great Indian Kapil Show to promote his upcoming film Baby John. His appearance stirred controversy after a segment from the show surfaced online, with some social media users alleging that host Kapil Sharma made an inappropriate remark about Atlee’s appearance. Following online backlash, Sharma broke his silence and defended himself against the accusations.
Addressing a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), where a user claimed, “Kapil Sharma subtly insults Atlee’s looks? Atlee responds like a boss: Don’t judge by appearance, judge by the heart. #Atlee #KapilSharma,” Sharma responded assertively. He denied the allegations and urged people to verify the context by watching the video instead of blindly following such claims.
Sharma wrote, “Dear sir, can you pls explain to me where and when I talked about looks in this video? Please don’t spread hate on social media. Thank you. (Guys watch and decide by yourself; don’t follow anybody’s tweet like a sheep).”
Dear sir, can you pls explain me where n when I talked about looks in this video ? pls don’t spread hate on social media 🙏 thank you. (guys watch n decide by yourself, don’t follow any body’s tweet like a sheep). https://t.co/PdsxTo8xjg
— Kapil Sharma (@KapilSharmaK9) December 17, 2024
The clip in question shows Kapil Sharma asking Atlee, “Atlee Sir, you’re so young, yet you’ve become such a successful producer and director. Has it ever happened that you met a star for the first time, and they didn’t realize you were Atlee? Did they ask, ‘Where is Atlee?’”
Responding gracefully, Atlee said he understood the question and proceeded to share his perspective. He expressed gratitude toward filmmaker AR Murugadoss, who supported him during his debut film. Atlee explained that Murugadoss focused on his skills and storytelling rather than his appearance, saying, “He didn’t care about how I looked or whether I was capable—he loved my narration. I believe that’s how the world should operate. We should not judge by appearance but by the heart.”
Atlee was joined on the show by Baby John co-stars Varun Dhawan, Wamiqa Gabbi, and Keerthy Suresh. The filmmaker first rose to prominence with his 2013 Tamil debut Raja Rani, produced by AR Murugadoss. Atlee has since directed popular films like Theri, Mersal, Bigil, and Jawan.
