Hyderabad, Apr 9 (IANS): Telugu's leading producer Dil Raju, who has acquired the rights to release the Telugu version of the Tamil movie 'Beast', hailed actress Pooja Hegde and called her the 'Lucky Charm'.

Dil Raju made the remarks while attending a press meet on Friday, in Hyderabad.

The video of his comments on Pooja has now become viral on social media.

"Pooja is like a lucky charm to the film industry. 'DJ- Duvvada Jagannadham', 'Maharshi', 'Ala Vaikunthapuramu Loo', 'Aravinda Sametha', all of these movies were super hits because Pooja stepped in. Pooja! I want your dates", Dil Raju said.

Dil Raju compares Pooja to a famous regional sweet 'Kaja', which has grabbed much attention. While some netizens commented that it was insensitive to objectify an actress, some of them enjoyed his comments. At the same time, his speech was assumed to be witty, by many others.

Hemed by Nelson Dilipkumar, Pooja Hegde and Vijay- starrer 'Beast' will hit the screens on April 13.