On Tuesday, classical singer and composer Ramesh Narayan came under fire on online platforms for allegedly insulting Malayalam film actor Asif Ali during a function in Kochi, Kerala.
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Thiruvananthapuram, July 16: Classical singer and composer Ramesh Narayan on Tuesday came under fire on online platforms for allegedly insulting Malayalam film actor Asif Ali during a function in Kochi, Kerala.
Narayan had allegedly insulted Ali while he was receiving an award at an event recently.
The video of the incident went viral on social media. The incident took place on July 15 during the release of the trailer for an anthology of nine stories written by noted author M. T. Vasudevan Nair.
The video shows Ali coming on stage to present the award, but Narayan hesitates to accept it from him, though he accepts it later.
According to the video, Narayan meets film director Jayaraj on stage and hands him the award. After posing for a photo, Jayaraj returns the award to Narayan.
Criticizing Narayan, state Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkuthtil said, “A youth who has stood firm for nearly one-and-a-half years with hard work and dedication cannot be removed on the basis of’superiority complex’.”
Facing criticism, Narayan denied that he deliberately tried to humiliate Ali. He said, “If it came across that way, I apologise.”
He said, “I didn’t even know that Asif Ali was giving the award. When Ali suddenly came and gave me the award, many film stars were standing there. I wanted Jayaraj to be there too, so I called him on the stage. Meanwhile, Ali disappeared. If Asif Ali had been there too, the three of us could have shared a lovely moment.”
Narayan called Ali his dear friend and said that he was a fan of his acting. However, Ali has not said anything about this controversy yet.
Ramesh Narayan gave clarification on the whole matter.
Meanwhile, Ramesh Narayan has clarified the whole matter. Speaking to the media, he said that he did not insult Asif Ali. He said, “If you feel so, then I apologize. I did not hear the announcement, and I did not know that Asif was going to give the award. Jayaraj had called me for the film. But when all the directors were called on the stage, I was not called. I felt bad about it.” Ramesh Narayan further said, “I did not try to insult anyone on the basis of superiority or anything else. I am still nothing. If there is any misunderstanding about my name, then I apologize.” In this conversation, Ramesh Narayan praised Asif Ali and also called him his favorite actor.
