Telugu director Gopichand Malineni is currently basking in the success of his Bollywood film Jaat.
Though the film failed to cross ₹100 crores net at the box office, Gopichand received a lot of praise for delivering a proper mass-action film even with a faded star like Sunny Deol.
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During one of the promotional interviews post the release of Jaat, he spoke about his other projects.
Gopichand made a shocking revelation. He said that immediately after Veera Simha Reddy, he narrated a script to Thalapathy Vijay.
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Vijay liked it in the first sitting itself and was ready to move forward. But later, he backed out due to pressure from his Tamil side—just because Gopichand is a Telugu director.
This statement has caused a major buzz on social media. Many users are slamming the Tamil industry for its alleged regional bias.
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One viral comment read, “Typical Tamil industry behavior. Still stuck on ‘our director vs other director’ instead of focusing on content.”
Fans feel Vijay missed a good opportunity. Instead of going ahead with embarrassing films like The GOAT, they think he should’ve teamed up with Gopichand, who would have showcased him in a true mass avatar.
He should have chosen Gopichand at least for his last film instead of Jana Nayagan; he might have delivered better than Tamil directors like Venkat Prabhu or H. Vinoth.
Some even said, “If Gopichand could revive Sunny Deol, imagine what he could’ve done with Vijay.” The controversy has reopened the debate on Kollywood’s resistance to working with outsiders.
Many feel the industry should move past regional egos and focus on strong stories, no matter where they come from.
