Director Ram Gopal Varma said that no director in Bollywood right now can make something like Allu Arjun's Pushpa. He also recalled an incident where a producer made offensive comments about Pushpa: The Rise.

In a recent podcast with the Pinkvilla, RGV said, "When he saw Pushpa 1, he told someone I know that ‘North audience will puke on this guy’s face’. I don’t think it has anything to do with money, it has to do with the character." RGV went on to add that the concerned producer likes a guy with six-pack abs and signs him as his hero saying that he is "good-looking". RGV went on to add that the producer might be having nightmares after watching the business done by Pushpa 1 and Pushpa 2.

RGV said that most of the south directors are very rooted and connected to their motherland. "I'm not going to take names, they can't even speak English. They're very basic, very rooted and connected. They will not talk intellectually. They are more connected to the mass audience, which I think is impossible for a Bollywood director to do," he stated.