Chinmayi Sripada On Ranbir Kapoor's Casting As Lord Rama In Ramayana: "Someone Who Uses God's Name Can Be A Rapist..."
Singer Chinmayi Sripada came out in support of actor Ranbir Kapoor over his casting as Lord Rama in Ramayana.
What's Happening
Nearly 15 years after actor Ranbir Kapoor made a comment about eating beef, the old statement resurfaced on X (formerly Twitter), with the Internet questioning the decision to cast him as Lord Ram in the upcoming film Ramayana.
In response, singer Chinmayi re-shared a tweet that read "Beef Eater will be playing the role of Bhagavan Ram now! What's wrong with Bollywood?"
Reacting to the tweet, Chinmayi wrote, "A babaji who uses the name of God can be a rapist and he can keep getting parole to get votes in bhakt India - however what someone eats is a big problem."
Another user replied, "How one bad thing can justify another bad thing?"
To this, Chinmayi responded, "Nice. So someone playing a ROLE is the same 'bad' as a rapist campaigning for votes amongst you. You deserve to have Ram Rahim as your local MP and visit your house personally."
Background
The remark in question dates back to 2011 when Ranbir was promoting his film Rockstar. At the time, he had said, "My family is from Peshawar, so a lot of Peshawari food has come with them. I am a mutton, paya, and beef fan. Yeah, I am a big beef fan."
Ranbir will be seen as Lord Ram in director Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming film Ramayana. The film also stars Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravi Dubey as Lakshman. It is scheduled to be released in two parts, Part 1 in Diwali 2026 and Part 2 in Diwali 2027.
Ramayana is based on ancient Indian mythology and depicts a cosmic battle between light and darkness. While rooted in Indian spiritual tradition, the film's scale is global, with music by Oscar-winning composers Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman.
The production design is being handled by teams behind films such as Dune and Captain America. The film is produced by Namit Malhotra.
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So, just the fact that stereotypes don't allow you to be a full human being. The first thing that comes to your mind when I mention the following. Slumdog Millionaire Oscars. Apu in The Simpsons. Regressive. Dev Shah in Master of None. Very relatable. Raj Kutrapalli in The Big Bang Theory. Really fun. Parvati and Padma from the Harry Potter movies. I have not seen or read Harry Potter. Kelly Kapoor in The Office. Oh, so funny. The one comic in America you admire who doesn't vote like you? I don't know how he votes but Shane Gillis. We come from very different worlds and I value his take on the world, which a lot of my Republican friends also enjoy. Neil Patrick Harris, John Cho, Ryan Reynolds. Who would you bring to India first? John. You always travel with the person you're closest to. He is also Asian, so you have to explain less. There's a story of you almost having offered to take President Obama to a strip club. That's not correct. 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Because I was new at the job, I had to tell our ethics officer that I just want to make sure in case this ever becomes a news story that I did not in fact almost take anybody to a strip club or a topless bar. The opposite in fact. So I'm disclosing this to you. Your view on Elon Musk. Genius first opportunist second or opportunist first genius second? Don't they all go hand in hand? Not just with Elon Musk. But when you get to a certain level, it's all intermixed. Isn't that the case for any of us? Of course, a guy like Elon Musk has way more power. But I feel like a lot of us are like, 'Oh, this choice that I make will have no impact.' When in reality, especially in a capitalist society, any choice we make has some impact. If you had to watch one episode from the new Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, which would you pick? 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The fourth film, we are hoping to make. They have a deal with the writers. They don't have one yet with the cast but hopefully they will work all that out with the teams and we would love to do a fourth movie. In terms of coming to Mumbai, hypothetically, if there was a film awards programme that they were invited to, maybe they would show up. There's another edition of Don coming out. Would you ever be a part of it? It is one of your favourite movies. It is. And I'll throw this out there. I had dinner with Arjun Bhasin who is the costume designer on the film, and Zoya (Akhtar). As a massive fan of the franchise, I am so excited to see that. And if there was a cameo, I would not say no. In that, I would be very cheap. I'd be like, 'Yes, I am going to come to do it. What is your lowest rate?' I am a big fan. Deepak Sethi Founder and CEO, Solutions QED You said the Democrats got their messaging wrong. 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