When he is not making headlines for his outrageous comments, Ram Gopal Varma is ruffling feathers with his morbid brand of humour. On Wednesday, controversy’s favourite child was at it again as he posted a tweet that read, “My doctor just told me that I tested positive with Corona.” As word spread, the filmmaker, in a subsequent tweet, claimed that it was an “April Fool joke”. Although he apologised on social media, he was widely criticised for his insensitive tweets.
“The only way to remain sane in such a [grim] situation is to joke about it, else we will get into depression. I knew I would get trolled for it. I believe a complaint has been filed against me for spreading false information. But it was meant as an April Fool joke, nothing else,” laughs Varma. Did he not worry about hurting people’s sentiments with his behaviour? “I [put out the tweet] because I was getting bored,” says the director, who is confined to his Hyderabad office.