Filmmaker Priyadarshan has clarified that his recent remarks about actor Rajpal Yadav’s “poor education” were never intended as an insult, explaining that he meant it in a broader sense of awareness rather than formal schooling.
The director tells HT City exclusively that his comment was about innocence and the challenges of navigating the industry rather than Rajpal’s academic background. “Actually, I didn’t mean that. See, education is something we learn from the street and something we learn from the books too. Now I just meant that (street smartness), maybe because education is also awareness. This is what I meant,” he said. Rajpal has had a tough time in the recent weeks, as he was asked to surrender in connection to a cheque bouncing case, and later released. And when asked about Priyadarshan’s comment, Rajpal had clarified, “This is completely wrong. Priyanji doesn’t know me. I am well educated guy.”
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Priyadarshan adds that his observation came from the actor’s simplicity and trusting nature. “Maybe he comes from a village and the people in the village are so innocent, they don’t understand… you should be able to discriminate between right people and wrong people. That is education in a very broad way,” he explains.
He asserts that the remark was never meant to demean the actor. “I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean to insult him or anything. So I said that because I’ve never seen such an innocent person in my life like Rajpal… innocence comes out of lack of education in the broader sense.”
Priyadarshan goes on to praise Rajpal, with whom he has collaborated on iconic hits such as Bhagam Bhaag, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Malamaal Weekly, which in fact completed 20 years of its release on Tuesday, March 10. He believes Rajpal will bounce back strongly. “After Bhooth Bangla releases, I believe Rajpal will spring back as one of the biggest stars of comedy… because he’s done a fantastic job for me in this film.”
