Telugu superstar-turned-politician Nandamuri Balakrishna has earned the fury of a section of the internet after a video of him aggressively shoving senior actor Anjali during the pre-release event of the film Gangs of Godavari began to do the rounds on social media. Balakrishna, who was the chief guest at the event, did so apparently because she didn’t move quickly enough to the side of the stage when he asked. Anjali and her co-star Neha Shetty attempted to laugh it off, but what came as a bigger surprise, at least to the section of netizens unfamiliar with Balakrishna and the deeply entrenched misogyny in the Telugu film industry, is how his hostility was met with cheers and howls of laughter from the crowd.
For some context, Balakrishna is a powerful star in Telugu cinema, besides being a prominent member of one of the two families (the other being the Chiranjeevi clan) that arguably rule Tollywood. Belonging to the dominant Kamma community, his family’s influence in the industry is intricately tied to their caste location. His father Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR), an actor-politician who served as Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister for seven years is often credited with putting Telugu cinema on the global map. Now, Balakrishna himself is a legislator of the Hindupur constituency, belonging to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) that his father founded. Former AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is Balakrishna’s brother-in-law.
It suffices to say that Balakrishna’s power and influence extend well beyond Tollywood to the cultural and political landscapes of the two Telugu states at large. His films often make references to his family lineage, such as in his 2014 film Legend, where he says to mass effect, “Politics is may be in your diet, but it is in my blood. State politics was born in my house. If I enter the field, who can confront me?”
In the Telugu states, where celebrity worship often becomes venomous as it escalates to fanaticism, fans of big stars are frequently seen displaying heavy intolerance towards any criticism directed at their favourite actor. Fights between fans of the dominant Kamma and Kapu castes are commonplace, proudly proclaiming their stars’ caste status in a bid to one-up each other. Such fans also perceive any criticism of their star as an attack on their caste pride and often retaliate accordingly, aiding and contributing to the industry’s feudal ecosystem, and essentially handing these superstars an impunity that most people rarely dare to question.
Balakrishna already has a prolonged list of public misdemeanours to his credit and has rarely been held accountable. One of his most notorious offences was in 2004 when he allegedly shot a gun at filmmaker Bellamkonda Suresh and an associate. He later claimed it was an act of self-defence because the duo attacked him with a paper knife. Bellamkonda later said he didn’t know who shot at him, and the case was closed due to lack of evidence.
Balakrishna has also made headlines for his misogynistic remarks in public and for abusing his assistants. Multiple instances have been recorded of him slapping his fans for trying to take a selfie with him, which director Puri Jagannath justified by claiming that his fans “yearned” for those slaps.
Actor Radhika Apte once described how a “powerful Telugu actor” started tickling her feet without her consent during a rehearsal for a scene. Though she did not name the actor, the fact that her only Telugu films apart from a few bilingual films are Legend (2014) and its sequel Lion (2015) starring Balakrishna, leaves little room for doubt.
Even after the incident with Anjali, another video from the event had gone viral, zooming in on a water bottle containing what people assumed to be alcohol at Balakrishna’s feet, suggesting that the actor-politician was drunk at the public event.
A section of netizens and industry insiders were once again quick to come to his defence, with Gangs of Godavari producer Naga Vamsi claiming that the bottle was computer generated. He also said Balakrishna shoved Anjali “casually,” while the film’s lead actor Vishwak Sen alleged everyone was outraging “without watching the full video.”
Anjali too issued a statement in Balakrishna’s defence two days later, stating that she and the superstar have always maintained mutual respect. “We share a great friendship from a long time (sic). It was wonderful to share the stage with him again,” she said, sharing a video of him shaking her hand, sharing laughs with her, and giving her a high-five after shoving her.
Fans of Balakrishna responded by directing their attack towards feminists, whom they accused of “stirring the pot even though the actors involved in the incident seemed fine with what transpired”.
Many also suggested that Anjali is privileged enough to speak up for herself, due to her position as a relatively senior actor. But this myth of relative privilege comes into question even when we take the example of the Malayalam film industry further south, where the impact of feudal nepotism is relatively less prevalent in comparison with Tollywood or Bollywood. Several women actors in Malayalam cinema have publicly spoken up about how they were denied opportunities and have been systematically pushed out of the industry for retaliating against the bigwigs, despite initially garnering support even from the insiders.
For now, let’s put the question of Anjali’s long-term survival in the industry on the back burner. But if she spoke up, can she reasonably expect, at the very least, an initial wave of support from industry insiders or fans?
The onus of confronting deep-seated patriarchy and feudalism should not rest on those who bear its brunt. Besides, more often than not, standing up to powerful oppressors has done little more than invite public shaming for women in the film industry. So for the sake of good cinema and a healthy work environment, it is high time the enablers, including the fans, start holding their celebrities accountable for their actions.
Views expressed are the author’s own.