In a promotional interview during the release of his latest Tamil directorial "Kaththi Sandai", director Suraaj was asked how he managed to make Tamannaah look glamorous in the film.
Suraaj's reply has created an uproar in social media.
He said: "Audiences pay money to watch the hero fight and heroines in full glamour. As a director, I don't like to see my heroines fully clad in a sari. If we're paying money to watch a film, we should expect Tamannaah to look glamorous. Any commercial film should have glamour," Suraaj said.
He went on to add that all those heroines who made it big, chose the glamorous path to stardom.
"Whenever my costume designer presents my heroine in knee-length outfit, I'd ask him to cut it short. If my heroine gets angry, I'd tell her audience haven't paid so much for nothing," he added.
When the clip went viral, Tamannaah took to Twitter to share her views, and said she was "hurt and angered by the comments made by director Suraaj".
She said: "I would definitely want him to apologise not only to me but to the entire women in the industry. We are actors and we are here to act and entertain audiences and should not at any point be objectified as commodities.
Having worked in southern filmdom for over a decade, she added: "I have worn costumes which I'm comfortable with. It is sad that women in our country are spoken about so frivolously and I would like to tell my audiences that our industry should not be generalized due to comments made by one individual."
Suraaj was unavailable for comment.