Harish Shankar Responds to Rana Daggubati’s Joke on Mr Bachchan: “Have Faced a Lot”

At the recent IIFA Utsavam Awards in Dubai, hosts Rana Daggubati and Teja Sajja took playful digs at the Telugu film industry, sparking laughter — and some controversy. During their comedy segment, they poked fun at various industry figures, including a remark on Mr Bachchan, the recent Ravi Teja and Harish Shankar film that fell short at the box office.

Rana opened with a humorous comment: “Bachchan garu ki ee year highest high and lowest low kuda chusaru (Amitabh Bachchan has seen both the highest high and lowest low this year),” to which Teja playfully asked, “Highest high Kalki. Lowest low enti?” hinting at Mr Bachchan. Though they stopped short of naming it outright, the audience caught on quickly. Fans tagged Ravi Teja and Harish Shankar in clips circulating on X (formerly Twitter), prompting Shankar to respond: “Enno…vinnanu tammudu…andulo idoti. Anni rojulu okela undavu. Nakaina…evarikaina…(I’ve faced a lot, brother. This is just one more moment. Not all days stay the same. For me, or anyone else).” To avoid backlash, he limited comments on his post.

Rana and Teja’s humor didn’t stop there. The duo quipped about everything from Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s evolving roles in their lives to HanuMan outperforming Guntur Kaaram at Sankranthi. In a jab at Pushpa 2‘s delays, they joked it should be renamed “Pushpa too late,” while the makers of Adipurush also weren’t spared; even Hanuman was implied to have preferred watching the film on OTT over theaters, despite the empty seat left for him.

To wrap things up, they hinted that MAA President Vishnu Manchu might soon request the jokes be deleted within 48 hours, referencing his previous warnings to trolls. While the hosts’ playful humor added entertainment to the awards night, their jokes left the Telugu film industry buzzing.