Eyebrows were raised after Varma and Ritesh Deshmukh, actor-son of the Chief Minister, accompanied the CM, as he visited the hotel on Sunday. Deshmukh also faced criticism from a section of the media, which said he had gone on a 'picnic' along with son and Varma.

Downplaying his visit, Varma said, "Let me clarify that the Chief Minister did not invite me, as I have never been even formally introduced to him. It was just that I happened to be with Ritesh at that time, whom I know very well."

He also said that he has 'no intention' of making a film on Mumbai terror strikes. The film director said that no one should derive any other meaning from the visit by politicising it as he maintained that it was time to fight unitedly against terrorism.

Filmmakers, who are known to have often used real life tragedy in their movie plots, are being cautious this time keeping in mind the shimmering tension among the public.

'A humble appeal to Mahesh Bhatt, Ram Gopal Varma, Sanjay Gupta, Rahul Dholakia and Apoorva Lakhia, Sirs, what's happening in our beloved Bombay is terrifying and sad,' an SMS doing the rounds said reflecting the vox populi. 'Don't insult us by thinking of making a 'realistic' film glorifying or capitalising on this situation. God please save our country from such terrorism and such filmmakers.'

Text: PTI

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