Producer’s veiled criticism of Telugu actresses: Is Baby actress the target?

suresh kavirayani
sureshkavirayani@gmail.com
On Sunday night, the team of the Tamil film Dragon visited Hyderabad for the release of the Telugu version, titled Return of the Dragon. Pradeep Ranganathan stars as the lead actor, with Anupama Parameswaran and Kayadu Lohar playing the female leads. Ashwath Marimuthu directs the film. Telugu producer SKN attended the promotional event as one of the chief guests and his controversial comments about Telugu actresses have since gone viral. It seems that the producer’s remarks were directed at Baby actress Vaishnavi Chaitanya, who worked with SKN in that film. While the producer did not name anyone specifically, Vaishnavi Chaitanya is the latest Telugu actress to have worked with him.
Anupama Parameswaran was absent from the event, while another female actress, Kayadu Lohar, was present. During his speech, SKN said that after the release of Baby, they received compliments from Pradeep Ranganathan and Ashwath Marimuthu. “We love non-Telugu-speaking girls so much more than Telugu girls. We realised what happens when we encourage Telugu girls in our films, so my director Sai Rajesh and I decided to encourage non-Telugu girls only,” said SKN. He further added that Sai Rajesh had delivered a cult film and helped him become a cult producer.
It appears that the producer’s remarks were indirectly aimed at Vaishnavi Chaitanya, especially since he referred to a “cult film,” which likely refers to Baby. The reasons behind SKN’s comments remain unclear, but some speculate it may relate to the fact that after the success of Baby, Sai Rajesh and SKN had announced another project with the same pair—Anand Deverakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya. However, that film never materialised and the same pair is now working with another production house, Sithara Entertainments, on a new project. It’s possible that this situation led to SKN’s comments, as Vaishnavi may not have provided the necessary dates for his film.
The exact reasons remain unknown, but SKN’s controversial statements about Telugu actresses have sparked a wide debate. Interestingly, SKN’s other film Taxiwala, featuring Vijay Deverakonda, also starred a Telugu actress, Priyanka Jawalkar. Return of the Dragon is set to release on February 21.