After the pandemic, there was a shift in the way people saw Bollywood films. It was established, after much debate, that Bollywood films were inferior and that Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films were much superior in terms of content. Yes, a lot of films from the South manage to become mass blockbusters. They are engaging, keep you on your toes, are visually stunning and the overall plotlines seem to triumph. But in the end, they do perpetuate harmful stereotypes, especially those surrounding the ‘macho-ness’ of a man.
You would think that society is changing and that films need to move with the times. Films that celebrate toxic masculinity are facing backlash from the audience. But they are also becoming blockbusters because the larger audience celebrates toxic masculinity. In our country, society tends to influence films more than films influence society.
One may ask why Telugu films are incredibly sexist. That is because the larger Telugu population is sexist. Here’s why we say this.
Nandamuri Balakrishna is a Telugu superstar, politician and son of N.T. Rama Rao who served as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Anjali, on the other hand, is a Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam actor and has been working in the industry for close to two decades. She is a senior actor in the industry, not a newcomer.
Nandamuri Balakrishna was a chief guest at a pre-release event for Anjali’s upcoming film Gangs of Godavari. A video has gone viral wherein Balakrishna is seen literally pushing Anjali because he wanted her to make space for him to stand on the stage. Anjali’s co-star Neha was visibly shocked by the gesture but Anjali laughed it off.
Have a look:
— Out of Context Telugu (@OutOfContextTel) May 29, 2024
People were shocked by the way in which Balakrishna treated Anjali on a public stage, the reaction of the audience who were hooting and cheering seeing the incident and Anjali’s reaction to it. Powerful men like Balakrishna have been treating women with such disrespect publicly for generations and it is eye-opening to see it happening today as well.
Why is the idiot laughing?
If a man physically assaulted me, I would hit him in front of everyone to embarrass the hell out of him publicly— @PreityUpala (@PreityUpala_) May 29, 2024
What?!! ?
Unacceptable behavior!! ?
Also She should have stood up for herself to protect her self-respect. This kind of behavior must be called out!!!— » ??♥️« (@madyhaw) May 29, 2024
bollywood may have thousands of problems but even that the north indian actors don’t stoop so low, definitely not on camera.
if he can do this on camera, then I dont know what he does off camera.— GAURAV CHAUDHARY (@gaurav21051995) May 29, 2024
Appalling behaviour by Balakrishna and an understandable reaction by the junior artist who laughed it off, but the most horrifying part of this video is the crowd’s reaction to a blatant act of assault, cheering and hooting in approval.
— Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) May 29, 2024
For additional context: That actress has done more than 50+ movies. More than half of them as a lead. Sad that this is the state of the industry and it hurts that there is no transforming this. Won’t be surprised if there comes a pr spin on this.
— Anvesh Dunna (@anveshdunna) May 29, 2024
She is not a junior artist but a senior actress of almost 22 years in the industry
— Irfan (@irfanologist) May 30, 2024
He is a shame for South Indian Cinema. He never respects women. Such an arrogant character. ??????@manabalayya
— Safas (@realsafas) May 30, 2024
This goes on to show how we haven’t come very far as a progressive society. Women are disrespected in the public eye and the act of disrespect is celebrated and not condemned.