Actor Jr NTR, who — along with SS Rajamouli and Ram Charan — is currently in the international spotlight after RRR’s track, Naatu Naatu bagged the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, was also trolled for his accent during a media interaction on the red carpet of the awards ceremony. He had said in a mildly American accent that he hoped to be part of a Marvel project, joking that he was “waiting for the call.”
However, during another conversation later with a media source, he made an indirect reference to this while talking about the similarities that Indian actors and Hollywood actors share. In the interview alongside Ram Charan, Jr NTR was quoted as saying, “We are just divided by time zones and a little bit of an accent. Other than that, what an actor goes through in the West is exactly the same process as in the East.”
He also spoke about SS Rajamouli’s international potential and said, “I always felt this man was not destined to make only films in Telugu or in India. He is one of those rare phenomenons who can travel the globe with his films. With each film, he has only gotten better. I feel that RRR was his plan of taking the West. What makes us very proud is that a small industry from South India, Tollywood, and one movie called RRR could open the gates to global cinema and bring us here.”
While some trolled Jr NTR, others also stood in support. Actor Gulshan Devaiah wrote on Twitter, “I think NTR’s accent is firstly not as bad as people are making it out to be, secondly it’s a calculated PR strategy. Take it easy..let him try to spread his wings & fly. It’s good for Indian cinema if he breaks through the Hollywood global market. We all stand to gain from it (sic).”
Apart from the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, RRR also bagged two awards at the Critics Choice Awards and is expected to feature in the Oscar nominations, which are scheduled to be announced on January 24.
RRR is set in the 1920s and stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR as freedom fighters. Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn also appear in the film in crucial roles.