A director kissing the heroine of his film at a press meet has triggered huge controversy in the film industy. The actress though shocked by the sudden behaviour of the director however bravely smiled and the video went viral.

Director A.S. Ravikumar has directed a few films in Telugu and is currently promoting his new movie 'Thiragabadara Saami' starring Raj Tarun, Malvi Malhotra and Mannara Chopra in the lead roles. During the teaser release of this movie, while posing for a photo, Ravikumar, who was next to Mannara all of a sudden put his hand on her and kissed her on the cheek. There was severe backlash from the media as well as netizens.

Mannara Chopra who debuted with the movie 'Zid' in Bollywood is a cousin of the famous international actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas. She has still not clarified her side of the story while the director has explained his action in an interview.

A.S. Ravikumar reportedly stated "She is the girl who worked honestly in my film. What's wrong with kissing her? I did it with affection. I kiss my daughter as well. Will you mistake that too? To be honest, I didn't like her performance for two days after the shooting of the movie. She is a girl from a big family in Bollywood but still I was strict with her and from that day on, she worked perfectly on the set. She really worked hard for this movie. Grateful for it and thats why I kissed her affectionately."

Ravikumar questioned, "Why is it that the actress, my family and my wife are not having any trouble by that kiss and what bothers you?" Mannara Chopra has appeared in cameo roles in two Tamil films 'Sandamarutham' and 'Kaaval'.