India, July 13 -- Filmmaker Nag Ashwin has responded to the ongoing criticism surrounding the portrayal of Karna in Kalki 2898 AD, defending the film's Mahabharata-inspired climax by citing a passage from the epic itself. As work on the sequel continues, the director urged critics to read the Mahabharata before questioning his interpretation, adding that audiences should "wait for Part 2".

The debate resurfaced after the release of Akhil Akkineni's Lenin. Comparing actor Pramod Panju's portrayal of Karna in Lenin with that in Kalki 2898 AD, an X (formerly Twitter) user criticised Nag Ashwin's film for 'glorifying' Karna and described its climax as "blasphemy". The post read, "After reading the comments and quotes, one thing became very c...