SKN's Strong Message To Actors Criticising Telugu Cinema

These days criticism on Tollywood movies has become a common topic on social media. We have already seen Bollywood’s ace actress Janhvi Kapoor who essayed the lead actress role in Ram Charan’s Peddi stating, “In the south, very rarely there is a bound script. Very rarely do you see the camera angles. I should have taken advantage of my privilege. It was a violating experience in a way. The good thing that came out of it is that maybe next time a director will rethink twice before presenting a lead actress this way” in Karan Johar’s Koffee With Karan talk show. Her statement created a lot of buzz on social media.

And now, even another Bollywood actress Radhika Apte also criticized Tollywood scripts stating that, “There was a Telugu film I did where I had to marry my Mama (maternal uncle) in the film. It was the most challenging film. I hated everything about it.” But when Keerthy Suresh who was also part of this interview stated, “It's a very Tamil and Telugu thing where you marry your uncle.”

But Radhika further said, “But I also had to romance a much older actor. It was a very patriarchal situation and place, and for me that was the toughest thing. And then I die in the middle of it. He had to throw me (gestures over his shoulder) and then do action. I was like, 'When am I going to die?'”.

This remarks quickly sparked discussion on social media and now even Tollywood’s ace producer SKN also gave a strong counter with his latest post.

This post reads, “Accepting roles, working in South Indian cinema, gaining recognition and opportunities here, and then years later criticising the same industry, its stories and cultural traditions is becoming an unfortunate pattern. Every actor has the right to express an opinion. But there is a difference between constructive criticism and selectively looking down upon an industry that welcomed you. #Telugucinema and #SouthIndian cinema have their own cultural identity, traditions and storytelling values. What may seem unusual to someone from another region can be perfectly normal within our culture. Respect should be mutual. You cannot celebrate the opportunities and later disrespect the culture behind them. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Selective criticism and cultural superiority are not. Respect the industry that respected you.”

Now, his comments on this issue are gaining attention on social media.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ravali Hymavati

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K. Ravali Hymavathi being born in Hyderabad holds a strong command in the content writing field. She always sticks to her principles and holds a passion for ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Lifestyle’ write-ups. She earlier worked for Eenadu’s ‘EeYuva’ and started working for Hans India from a couple of years…

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