RGV: Blaming Films for Violence Is Like Blaming Ramayana

Ram Gopal Varma has entered Bollywood’s recurring violence debate with a line only he could deliver. After a school attack in Andhra Pradesh revived criticism of violent films, the filmmaker posted on X that blaming cinema for real-world violence is like blaming the Ramayana for a rise in kidnappings.

The attack that restarted the argument

In Raptadu, Anantapur district, a 21-year-old man allegedly entered a Class 10 classroom and attacked a 15-year-old girl with a chainsaw; another student was hurt trying to protect her. Almost immediately, social media looked for a cultural culprit.

Users revisited the classroom sequence from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal, in which Ranbir Kapoor’s character walks into a school carrying a loaded gun. The scene has become the default exhibit in the long-running case against on-screen violence.

RGV’s analogy, decoded

Varma’s X post was short and characteristically blunt: “Blaming films for rise in violence is like blaming Ramayana for rise in kidnappings.” The logic is simple: a story containing a crime does not cause that crime any more than an epic containing an abduction teaches abduction.

That framing won’t satisfy everyone. Critics named Toxic, Animal, Marco, KGF and Dhurandhar, arguing that brutality is packaged as heroism. Defenders fired back that Animal remains, in one fan’s words, “the most misunderstood Bollywood movie ever.”

Two questions, one debate

Two different arguments are being made at once. One is moral: should cinema show cruelty so stylishly? The other is empirical: does it cause violence? RGV is answering the second, not the first. That distinction is often lost when a disturbing clip goes viral.

This is bigger than one film. It shapes how violent sequences are edited, what censor boards flag and how families choose a Friday-night watch. There is no simple causal proof that a film creates a violent act, but the concern that some audiences may not separate performance from endorsement keeps the argument alive.

Fans can do more than post

For film fans, the useful move is context:

• Check the age rating and scene context before sharing a clip.
• Read what the filmmaker actually says the scene is doing.
• Report real threats or red flags instead of only debating a film.

What’s next for RGV

Varma is busy with Police Company, a crime drama led by Harshvardhan Rane that also features Fardeen Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Paresh Rawal, Saurabh Shukla, Makarand Deshpande and Ashwini Kalsekar. It is scheduled for June 4, 2027. He is also linked to Police Station Mein Bhoot, which reunites him with Manoj Bajpayee after Satya.

Source: The Times of India