A pathetic desperation currently haunts the timelines of Tollywood’s elite. As Thalapathy Vijay makes waves in Tamil Nadu’s political circles, the Telugu film industry has collectively decided to act as his unofficial PR wing.
From Nani’s “absolute cinema” tweets to the endless “glorification” of every move Vijay makes, including the circus surrounding his rumored relationship with Trisha, our stars are competing to see who can bow the lowest. It’s a classic case of praising whoever is on top, but there’s a glaring catch: this love story is entirely one-sided.
The hypocrisy is hard to ignore. When Pawan Kalyan pulled off a historic, 100% strike-rate victory in Andhra Pradesh back in 2024, the silence from the budding stars and A-listers of the Tamil industry was deafening.
While our actors are busy celebrating a neighbor’s success to protect their “cross-border markets,” the Kollywood camp remains fiercely protective of its own, rarely bothered to acknowledge a Telugu achievement. We are playing the “good neighbor” role to perfection, while they aren’t even checking their notifications.
Even more irritating is the “selective spine” of our local stars. When a crisis hits the Telugu states, our celebs suddenly lose their voices, citing “neutrality” or “focus on craft.”
But the moment a Tamil superstar enters politics or a big Bollywood trailer drops, they magically regain their speech. They are more than happy to “feed on cinema” and chase pan-Indian clout, but when it comes to standing up for local issues or demanding the same respect they give out, they prefer to stay in the shadows.
You don’t earn self-respect by being a cheerleader for someone who doesn’t even know you’re in the stadium. Tollywood’s obsession with Vijay feels less like genuine solidarity and more like a desperate attempt to stay relevant in a market that doesn’t return the favor.
If our stars can’t find the courage to speak up for their own people but have plenty of energy to celebrate a neighbor’s win, it’s clear where their priorities lie. It’s not “absolute cinema”, it’s just a bad look.
