"I am very irritated right now. I can't keep it in and I want to take it out. If I will keep it in, it will become a tumour inside me," he said here on Wednesday during a session at the International Film Festival of India.
The irritation had a lot to do with netizens' reactions to a recent round table discussion with actors, including Parvathy and Vijay.
During the interview, Parvathy had said: "'Arjun Reddy' and 'Kabir Singh' had the visual grammar of glorification, 'Joker' did not. At no point did I look at the character Joaquin (Phoenix) played and think 'Arre yaar, I totally agree with you. You must kill everyone'."
She even said: "We can watch a tragedy and leave it there, without feeling inspired to follow it. Whereas if you're telling there is no passion in a relationship without slapping each other and I see the comments on YouTube where people are resonating and engaging with that, you can see, engaging with that in a massive, mob-like manner. Where you're inciting violence..."
Among various things, Vijay pointed out that it was possible for a couple to be in love but give each other "little hits and they completely understand and they're still in love".A
Vijay also said that a couple like this would understand "Arjun Reddy" but a person who has grown up watching his parents hit each other would find it scary, and that it wasn't possible to make films to "fit" everyone's personal lives.A
Soon, netizens lauded Parvathy for her take on "Arjun Reddy", which has been slammed by many for promoting "toxic masculinity".
Explaining why he is irritated, he said: "I am normally very understanding. I give people the benefit of doubt. I saw that there was a genuine angst and genuine intention behind these questions. But these people don't know what they are talking about."
"I feel they are very misplaced. I didn't mind the question. I love Parvathy. I admire her work. What irritates me is the social media and media 'hadavidi'. People go nuts. They don't know what they are talking about."
"I dislike that people are celebrating at my cost. That's my issue. I don't care what you think of the film, misogyny or the interview," said the Telugu star.
( With inputs from IANS )