Malayalam filmmaker Jude Anthany Joseph recently stirred up controversy after he shared that he left a Bollywood film starring Ayushmann Khurrana midway through discussions after he felt disrespected when Mohanlal was called a ‘secondary artist’. Now, the filmmaker has shared a photo with Ayushmann and clarified that the remark was not made by the actor.
‘The comment had nothing to do with Ayushmann’
Jude shared a photo with Ayushmann and showered him with love and lauded his talent. He also issued a clarification, stating that the problematic remark about superstar Mohanlal was made by a producer and not the Dum Laga Ke Haisha star. He wrote in the caption, “Wonderful catching up with Ayushmann today ❤️ Just to clarify, my Mohanlal Sir comment was about the producer and had nothing to do with him. Nothing but respect between us. Hope we get to work together soon! ❤️”
In the caption, Jude also mentioned that Ayushmann was excited about the project, but it got shelved. He wrote, “He was so happy with the Mohanlal sir script, and unfortunately it didn’t work out. It was definitely not his fault that it didn’t happen. But I’m genuinely happy that I got to meet an actor with so much talent and calibre. Hope we get to work together someday. ❤️”
Ayushmann responds
Ayushmann responded to Jude’s post with an equally heartwarming message. He wrote, “I’m a fan of your work and I hope that I get the opportunity to work with you soon. I have the utmost respect for Mohanlal sir’s work. He is a legend. I hope I’m worthy enough to share screen space with him someday. 🙏🏽”
What did Jude say?
During a recent interaction with Club FM, Jude shared that he chose to walk out of a project with Ayushmann Khurrana as the lead after his demand to confirm Mohanlal’s role in the film was taken lightly. The Malayalam superstar was also referred to as a ‘secondary artist’, which the director found insulting.
He said, “The basic script was almost complete. We had also discussed the story with the production house. At that time, Lal sir had a role in the story. It was an important role. However, they asked me to complete the screenplay first. At that point, I put forward a demand to them. I told them that I could complete the script, but my condition was that Lal sir should be confirmed for the project. They responded by saying, ‘First, we need to like the script. Only then will we think about the secondary artists.’”
Jude’s latest clarification makes it clear that his disagreement was with the production house and not Ayushmann. His post also highlighted the mutual respect between the filmmaker and actor, with both expressing hope that they can collaborate on a project in the future.