# Vijay Varma jabs Dolly Singh for ‘red flag’ remark at IFFM 2026 2026-08-18T13:15:41+00:00 | Entertainment | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets At the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2026, actor Vijay Varma playfully hit back at host Dolly Singh after she called him the 'biggest red flag' on screen. Varma had just won the Best Performance award for his role in Matka King. Singh noted he often plays morally complex characters and asked how he balances that with being a nice person off-screen. Varma replied, 'Just buy a piece of red cloth and keep it at home, and make as many flags as you want.' When Singh called it a 'lame joke', Varma retorted, 'Just as I let go of your terrible compliments aside.' Times Now reported the exchange as a witty dig and 'terrible compliment', while Hindustan Times described it as lighthearted banter that left the audience in splits. Both outlets noted that fans appreciated the moment, though some social media users found it awkward. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both outlets cover the incident as lighthearted celebrity banter, with no political or ideological slant. Times Now frames it as a 'playful dig' and leads with Varma's reaction, while Hindustan Times provides more context on Varma's career and audience reactions, including critical comments. The uniform neutral-report stance reflects that this is a soft entertainment story with no controversy. Readers can take away that the exchange was a fun on-stage moment, with Varma winning the award and acknowledging director Nagraj Manjule. The next point to watch is the release of Varma's upcoming Netflix show Family Business. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Frames the exchange as a witty dig, no editorial slant - hindustantimes.com (neutral report) Presents it as lighthearted banter with audience reactions This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T17:20:52+00:00. Tags: Dolly Singh, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Vijay Varma Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/vijay-varma-jabs-dolly-singh-over-red-flag-remark-at-iffm/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/vijay-varma-jabs-dolly-singh-over-red-flag-remark-at-iffm/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/