Ram Gopal Varma defends SS Rajamouli amid Varanasi atheism row; calls out critics for 'baseless attacks'

SS Rajamouli recently found himself in the middle of a heated controversy after his remarks at the Varanasi event sparked outrage among certain groups. The director openly identified himself as an atheist and observed that "people still believe in God despite many failures and misfortunes."

While the statement was intended as a philosophical reflection, a section of social media users accused him of “hurting religious sentiments,” escalating the situation into a full-blown debate. Matters intensified when Rashtriya Vanarasena, an organisation, filed a direct complaint against him, alleging “double standards” for using religious elements in his films while professing atheism in public.

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has now emerged as the only prominent industry voice openly defending Rajamouli. In a strongly worded post, RGV emphasised the constitutional validity of Rajamouli’s stance.

“In the context of all the venom being spewed by the so called believers on
@ssrajamouli they should know that being an atheist in India is not a crime.

Article 25 of the Constitution protects the right to not believe So he has every right to say he doesn’t believe as much as the venom spewers right to say they believe,” he wrote, asserting that personal faith or the lack thereof falls under individual freedom.