Tollywood’s Hypocrisy: Deepika vs Rashmika

The entire Tollywood fan base seems to be relentlessly trolling Deepika Padukone after Sandeep Reddy Vanga removed her from Spirit citing her eight-hour workday rule as the reason. What followed is well known. Soon after, she was also dropped from Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD under the Vyjayanthi Movies banner.

Recently, Rashmika Mandanna who is balancing both Bollywood and Telugu careers, was praised sky-high at a Hyderabad press event, where a small producer indirectly took a dig at Deepika, applauding Rashmika for not limiting her work hours.

This raises a larger question: does an actress really need to work more than eight hours a day? If someone chooses not to, whether it’s for personal reasons like recently having a baby or simply wanting a healthier work-life balance, does that make her unprofessional or deserving of online abuse? The answer is clearly no.

But the bigger question lies elsewhere. Let’s look at the two directors who dropped her. One is Sandeep Reddy Vanga, whose last film Animal was known more for its controversy than its female characters. The other is Nag Ashwin, whose Kalki 2898 AD drew zero attention for Deepika’s role despite the massive scale.

So, are these directors really creating memorable, substantial roles for their heroines -roles that even deserve more than eight hours a day? It’s a fair question, and the answer, as everyone knows, is quite obvious.