There is an adage in Telugu whose essence goes ‘A Telugu person is the enemy for another Telugu person’. This is in relation to the way our folks instead of supporting each other try to find ways and means to bring down the opposite person. This is a tad bit higher in the Telugu film industry and now it appears that even the tough taskmaster S S Rajamouli is unable to escape it.
Since the last few days, some websites in Telugu media are spitting venom on Rajamouli citing he is spending money, he is giving ads in America, his desperation for Oscars is clearly evident. This has to do with Jakkanna’s efforts to get his recent release ‘RRR’ into the Oscar arena through the ‘For Consideration’ category.
He is trying to get a nomination and for that he is using his personal coverage, RRR media promotion events, arranging screenings to American film critics.
In fact, they wrote about ‘RRR’ and the LA Times even featured his cover story on the main page. Point to be noted is, the entire campaign and exercise is paid and that’s how the American media works. What’s more important is, more than the money, a Telugu film is being pushed hard. Isn’t it something we as Telugus and especially those who are mudslinging should be proud of?
Well, what these ‘critics’ need to understand is, Rajamouli is actually showing a route to Oscars. There are hundreds of deserving movies that have been released in India but how many actually made it to the Oscars? Incidentally, Rajamouli is also showing the way to Oscars without the support of the government.
The point to be noted is, he is showing this path not just for Telugus but for entire India. And if this works, it is going to open a door to international recognition which was never heard or thought of. Hence, this should be seen in a positive angle instead of defaming him. He should be appreciated for being a Telugu person who is moving heaven and earth to bring Indian pride onto the international arena.
