Even as most of the film industry stays calm since Kannada actor Darshan was taken into custody in an alleged murder case, director Ram Gopal Varma took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts. Without naming the actor, he also spoke about how star worship can go a little too far in India. 

RGV on Darshan’s case

The irony of Darshan allegedly using one fan to kill another fan was not lost on the director. RGV also wrote about how fans also take it a little too far in a bid to see their favourite stars lead a particular life.

He wrote, “A star using one die hard fan to kill another die hard fan who was interfering in his personal life is a fit example of the bizarreness of the star worship syndrome ..Fans wanting to order how their stars should run their lives is a unavoidable side effect of the same syndrome.”

While RGV did not name Darshan in the tweet, fans deduced that it was about the Sandalwood actor and Pavithra Gowda case. “I think this is about Kannada actor Darshan and Pavitra Gowda arrest,” wrote a fan, while another commented, “You are talking about dboss Darshan and Renukaswami murder incident.”

Darshan-Pavitra’s case

For the unversed, actors Darshan and Pavitra were arrested by the Bengaluru police on June 11 for the alleged murder of a man called Renukaswamy. Renukaswamy was a fan of Darshan and had allegedly sent abusive texts to Pavitra after she shared on Instagram that she and the actor had been in a relationship for a decade now. Darshan has been married to Vijayalakshmi since 2003.

When Darshan found out about the messages, he allegedly contacted Raghavendra, who heads his fan club in Chitradurga, and asked him to bring Renukaswamy to Bengaluru. The police state that Renukaswamy was then taken to a shed in RR Nagar, where he was assaulted and killed before his body was dumped in a drain near Summanahalli on June 8. His body was found on June 9.

15 arrests made

The police have made 15 arrests, including those of Darshan and Pavitra. According to PTI, Darshan’s close aide Nagaraj and co-star Pradosh have also been taken into custody.

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) President N M Suresh said that a decision regarding taking action against Darshan will be taken after discussion with the artists' union. He indicated that action will most likely be taken only after the police file a charge-sheet in the case.