The Misogyny In Mass Telugu Cinema | Video Essay by Sagar Tetali

The Telugu Film Industry still makes some of the best mainstream blockbusters but its regressive gender politics is quite apparent. Where do the gender dynamics of Telugu cinema emerge from? Join us as we try to unpack.
#masstelugucinema #telugucinema #tollywood #familystar #tillusquare
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Film Companion South is a division of Film Companion, founded by film critic and author Anupama Chopra. Apart from film reviews and articles, Film Companion South, with programs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada, specializes in conducting in-depth interviews with film personalities which include the likes of Kamal Hassan, Mani Ratnam, Academy Award-winner AR Rahman, Vetrimaaran, Dhanush, Yash, Sruthi Hariharan, Mahesh Babu, NTR Jr, Samantha, Aishwarya Rajesh, Ramya Krishnan, Prithviraj, Anjali Menon, Mysskin, Gautam Vasudev Menon, Rajamouli, Ram Charan, Yash, Prashanth Neel, Venkat Prabhu, Nelson, Sivakarthikeyan, Rakshit Shetty and many more. The channel has also hosted shows which open up the lesser-known facets of filmmaking with conversations with PC Sreeram, Ravi Varman, Rajiv Menon, Thota Tharani, and Academy Award-winner Resul Pookutty. In other words, Film Companion South is for those who love their cinema and are unapologetic about it.

[@nidmoses4600]

As much as I want to say follow the money, the lack of responsibility in the portrayal of women has to be a reflection of the makers. Just saying. These are not teenage boys but fully grown men and grandfathers who choose to make them.

[@Thakurgirija]

Indeed

[@tejaa07]

True and I wonder why the women still agree to play such roles.. they can avoid..

[@tokathu]

@@tejaa07because they wanted to survive in this industry .. thinking that one day , the might make it big .. bankable women superstars suck as Samantha and nayantara.. next it’s rashmika mandanna..

[@tejaa07]

@@tokathu This is not the only industry they have. By the way, they are not native Telugu people either. There's some wonderful and sensible work being done in Malayalam and Tamil. Literally, there's nothing for actresses in the Telugu industry. They just come here for money and sideline their self-respect and morality for it.

[@tokathu]

@@tejaa07 Eventhough that’s the case .. there are some really good projects in telugu as well .. there are actresses who does really amazing job and still manages to get paid more than the Malayalam industry.. Aishwarya Lekshmi for ammu, Samyukta for virupaksha ( it’s not a meaty side role compared to other telugu cinemas ), nazariya from antesundaranikki, there are examples … Samyuktha didn’t leave Malayalam industry just because she couldn’t act.. she didn’t have memorable experience from Malayalam industry .. their industry , and the content , no matter how good they are .. people behind the scenes , aren’t so comfortable to work with .. she isn’t the only actress who said this.. there are quite several actresses who chose to be in other language industries , due to the indifferent ( sometimes extreme ) attitude towards women .. wouldn’t blame them ..

[@cineenthusiast1234]

Why so much hate in the comment section ? These are facts about telugu cinema, if these things are not eradicated from cinemas, irrespective of the box office success, telugu cinema will be considered as a failure

[@jayakishore565]

I see mostly agreeing to the video . Iam from telugu cinema . One side Iam proud of TFI . I agree to this video and change has to come . We are against to people who just bashes telugu film industry with out proper knowledge

[@novkalp21185]

I agree with you

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

Shut it.

[@jarvis3630]

@@jayakishore565 here u r again😂...pls explain that " proper knowledge" we will definitely like to know about that " knowledge"

[@jarvis3630]

Btw telugu cinema can't be termed as a failure..the pan Indian phenomenon which changed the schematics of different industries took place post bahubali... telugu cinema has the highest no of theatres and is a huge revenue generator...it's never a failure.. but it has flaws that's it ... telugu industry has shown that Indian cinema is not about Bollywood... I would say I like to see more ground breaking stuffs from telugu without this misogyny...and they r capable of that...but their r some dum*b fans who won't understand it

[@CouchPohtatoh]

FACTS!!! BRAVO!! I never understood how much misogyny in cinema can affect young adults until quite a few douchebags in my class had started catcalling and eve teasing the girls in their class with dialogues from Desamuduru! It was traumatic to say the least. Never watched a Puri Jagannath film or any other “mass” films after that! Stuck to rewatching the likes of Anand, Orange, Godavari, Happy days, YMC, Ala Modalaindi etc..

[@wishvakrish3583]

It is just not about telugu cinema, its heavility rooted in our society too.

[@THUGPUTIN]

Why blame men of such society issues... Women have only been taking advantage of this... A man who makes 50k per month will marry girl who makes lower income but a girl who makes 50k won't consider a man who makes lower in majority.... Have you ever visited police station in India? When it's man, he's guilty until proven innocent but for women, it's innocent until proven guilty.. Indian society is problematic for both sides... Not just man.. When given opportunity women have taken advantage of it for selfish reason rather than collective reason for growth... Indian men and women in majority are toxic towards collective growth of both.... Regardless of gender, they like to have control over others...

[@Thakurgirija]

Not in Marathi, or Bengali films, not so much in north eastern movie. So it wud be whataboutary to defend this excess in Telugu and Tamil films

[@thejaswitharajesh]

But it's celebrated in telugu cinema

[@eaglemgtow2789]

​​@@thejaswitharajesh Male beating in the name of Women empowerment Is also Rampant in your movies.

[@DC-zi6se]

@@Thakurgirija Not in Gujarati and Malayalam films as well. Even Hindi films have strayed away from that. It exists but isn't a celebrated thing.

[@chandranakash02]

Recently watched a Mass commercial cinema named Aavesham with my friend which left him stunned, he was hoping it to have a item song, a needless romance and sexy heroine the moment I said it's a mass film and he was surprised while watching the film that there was no heroine, an celebratory song with only mens, no misogyny, a testosterone heavy film that doesn't mock women to prove the heroism of the Hero 😅 When somebody asked thw director why there's no female lead in his film he simply said the story didn't required one so I didn't🗿

[@Greed_The_Avaricious]

No misogyny? Ranga hires two prostitutes to pop the cherries of the kids😂

[@cinemaismywife]

@@chandranakash02 I was surprised too, Aavesham was a hit? lol one of the most boring movie I ever watched

[@anonymous891]

​@@cinemaismywife subjective opinion respected!!But that movie was really well made

[@NirupamaPutcha]

Thank you for talking about this - the blatant misogyny & sexism of mainstream Telugu cinema of the past 20+ years is abhorrent. As a Telugu woman, I am ashamed of the kind of films that come from our industry. It is such a sad reflection of our society that these films have mass appeal & hooting audience. As you rightly pointed out, there is a grave risk of exporting this into the mainstream of bigger film industries like done via the despicable movie Animal.

[@rahuljig1731]

Are you proud of Sanju movie dear😂😂ask FC why did they not review Sanju 😂😂guess why because it was produced by vidhu vinod chopra and who he is husband of anupama chopra 😂😂😂you should ask questions like these too dear😂😂😂

[@eaglemgtow2789]

You're NOT ashamed In scenes Where Violence against men is celebrated In your films via Some "STRONG" female character?? Flexing her EMPOWERMENT... But you justify that under the garb of those men are goons and we're not Suppose to be Empathetic towards them.

[@Ok99012]

Aunty what about films like Mahanati, Pellichoopulu and bahubali etc where women are shown stronger than men? What's a strong woman according to you, akka nuvvu lite tisko em bokka telidhu neku 😂

[@Ok99012]

If showing navel is a bad thing so is doing nanga dances in western costumes, at least Telugu films are showing women as someone who can speak up and be loyal etc not in other industries where a girl smoking is shown as women empowerment

[@Tarun.m.kumar6]

At last, some facts. I am a telugu guy and I have found this kind of problematic in almost all the Telugu films, where woman are put to humiliation and Objectification. Mass cinema has ridiculed women like nothing else. You can hardly count movies in which women have agency and are treated as human. Atleast new age directors are taking up charge and trying to change the narrative.

[@drodro7672]

What is incredible about Telugu cinema is that their standard of movies are not compatible with "orthodox" or "sanskari" household norms (not communities based), which inhibit a considerable section of Andhraite society. How such vulgar cinema emerged without any problems there ? In Tamil Nadu, state political class elite are kind of promoting unorthodox (still, it's not community based) thinking and way of life. In Maharashtra, the section of society that is conservative is also vocal. A lot of boycotting and harassing happened there. But how Andhra without iconoclastic elite as well with relatively conservative people, achieved to produce such contents ? Sorry for the possible "generalisation" or "misunderstanding", not personally from Andhra. But, I mean, no one in regular middle and popular class in Andhra Pradesh or generally in South India, live likes the protagonists of Telugu movies, or have possibilities for (social norms and taboos, etc.). How all these norms and taboos breaking movies can be so praised and successful, without raising concerns among the audience ?

[@Tarun.m.kumar6]

@@drodro7672 I agree. We sell Telugu cinema as Star showering vehicles where deep rooted misogony is always portrayed as heroic. Ismart Shankar is such an example. Puri sells misogny as heroism. The worst thing is the audience lap it up and celebrate it. Look at Liger, great that it received criticism. On the other hands Producers and Directors sell the movie as Entertainer. Downtroding women is not entertainment. It wasn't since Mahabharata, how has it become a norm now? Stars and Directors need a reality check. Audiences just cant lap up movies in the name of entertainment, we have to make sure everyone who does such things stands accountable.

[@gatech5190]

@@rahuljig1731 Sanju was a biopic, have some brains

[@gatech5190]

@@rahuljig1731 you clearly don't have brain cells, who told you biopics sirf heros ka hota hai? Even if thats true, Sanju like movies are far and few in Bollywood, Telgu movies are insufferable.

[@Attitudezero884]

​​@@rahuljig1731 it's not its reality. Sanjay dutt openly accepted it.

[@govardhanposina17]

That ending anecodote about the scene from Napeleon truly brings this full circle

[@visaman-u8b]

Not really. She cheats on napoleon.

[@parinikasharma317]

That doesn't make domestic violence okay. Nothing does

[@TheUnrulyMonster]

@@parinikasharma317 it's OK as long as it's used to discipline.... like parents beat children sometimes without being considered domestic violence

[@parinikasharma317]

@RinatRocks well personally I think even parents shouldn't hit children. It screws us up and frankly if you can't raise a child without hitting the problem lies with you. But that is a different argument. There is a world of difference between parent-child relationship and spousal relationship. Spouses are equal in status and have no right to "discipline" each other

[@TheUnrulyMonster]

@@parinikasharma317 no one is really equal... 1 person always assumes more of a leader role....2 different persons cannot be absolutely equal....usually this is men but it can be women as well... I am also not in favor of hitting the children but rarely we have to do it... purpose shouldn't be to hurt them or fuel your ego.... it should be the last resort.... When it comes to spouses yes it shouldn't be a normal thing of course.... but it's dangerous to judge a man coz he Beat his wife once In a bluemoon.... God has given higher physical strength to men for a reason....

[@vikramprasanna8908]

The comments here proving the point of this video right.

[@LLl-zi1ef]

Yes it's only I'm Telugu film industry only Tamil industry only makes films where women only play goddess roles And have roles only equal to hero 🗿

[@79Dnivara]

How? How does disagreeing with the arguments made in the video prove the video right?

[@atwunz]

@@LLl-zi1ef yes that's why nayanthara has fans there unlike your telugu heroines.

[@cinemaismywife]

@@atwunz which dumbass is the fan of nayanatara? 🤣🤣🤣

[@cinemaismywife]

@@atwunz which dumbass is the fan of Nayantara??? 😆😆😆

[@theprofessor8821]

Someone has the daring to point out the fallacies of Telugu cinema when it comes to portrayal of women.

[@TheUnrulyMonster]

Women aren't good by default... there is no 1 right portrayal of women....

[@eldiabloindahouse]

Finally. Someone said it out loud.

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

N🦍 u can find it anywhere around the world.

[@anonymouspersonbehind5354]

​@@Raizel_Noblessemalayalam cinema and tamil cinema have eradicated it at least malayalam filims have done it and apart from some tamil movies they have also removed that trend And netlix type ott released hindi cinema is also reducing it

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

@@anonymouspersonbehind5354 All the clips he showed were 10/12 yrs back. Recently released he only managed to show 2 movies clips which clearly means he was not able to find more. So there is some change it might not be in large scale. how many yrs it took for mallus to end their Stereotype of b grade film's. 🍒🍑 Change doesn't happen overnight.

[@anonymouspersonbehind5354]

@@Raizel_Noblesse now they have resource to filim and if u know about malayalam filim industry u would know whole thriler artistic filim wave was dead in 2000s and came back in 2011-12 by just one filim the whole industry came back and changed So what is the problem to avoid a item song in a movie it is absolutely bizare women is treated as sex toy At least show some art value Tamil cinema is also bringing in progressive thoughts smoothly through their cinema

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

@@anonymouspersonbehind5354 how ignorant can someone can be. Man if u don't know just say so. Tryna to act smart. All young director like naga Ashwin, Prashant varma, Vidyadhar Kagita, Sandeep Raj & many more. They all directed film's like gaami, Mahanati, awe, kalki, agent sai etc. All these directors ain't following item song concept. Yeah we still have those 40s director. So can u stop babbling.

[@thehypermonk89]

FINALLY!! Bravo to Sagar for writing the ever-present & never-questioned misogyny of the Telugu Cinema….& kudos to FC for approving a video essay that takes not just a sharp mind but also the courage to say it out loud! After years of criticism subdued as unfunny humour by Hriday Ranjan, FC comes up with this banger!! Damn!! Wish it was longer & dived into the nuances a lot more than just scraping the surface… May the force with you, Sagar!! For all the implausible mess that’s gonna directed at you… Good attempt but in vain…for as G.B.Shaw said…”Never wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty & the pig likes it…” Cheers!! And much love…❤

[@sravanthijoginipally3867]

Finally ❤Telugu cinema does have better movies... mass commercial movies are misogynist it is great that we are talking about so change will start which is long due...

[@prasanthnaidu9999]

Our society likes to hide things rather than facing / discussing them openly. That's what our parents and society taught us. This comment section proves it. Kudos for openly saying it. But not for long though, it's changing and will change as soon as all the old people die.

[@thegoodgirl3382]

On one side, Rajamouli is trying his best to pull Telugu cinema out of these stereotypes but the inherent side is going stronger in misogyny.

[@050138]

Rajamouli changed since Magadheera.... It was like Rajamouli 2.0 Sukumar is the commercial director who has least cringy female leads from the debut movie.... Before you shout Pushpa, I still look at Srivalli's character as someone with both voice and agency and not really a bimbo....

[@050138]

Directors like Parasuram Petla, Anil Ravipudi, Krishnavamsi, Puri, Surrender Reddy, Sreenu Vaitla, Vinayak have the most caricaturish female leads, but some of them have made some decent entertainers in the past.... Trivikram who is hyped up and kept on a pedestal by the average Telugu audience actually has very cringy female leads, he just uses them as another comedian in the movie.... 🤦 He just gets away as he makes movies with superstars and tries to lick their fans by writing some bhajana dialogues a d philosophical dialogues

[@050138]

But these are all old directors and failing now .... New directors like Krish, Hanu Raghavapudi, Gautam Tinnanuri, Prashant Verma, Tharun Bhaskar, Prashant Verma and some 20 other new directors have showed lots of promising writing in last 10 years....

[@kriz2281]

@@050138 are Telugu people supporting such new directors?

[@siddharthdhulipala24]

Most of the commerical telugu films are still helmed by directors who are way in their late 40s or are immature adults. They still cant seem to get past that "heroine" template. Its time producers stopped playing safe and work with young directors.

[@eaglemgtow2789]

😂😂😂 Hahaha. Male supremacy is IMMATURE and women beating up men in "feminist" Films is MATURE?

[@jacksonaniyan6144]

navel show is a must in telugu cinemas...female lead saree navel is a must in telugu cinema...recently chiranjeevi,mahesh babu movie had these cringe scene...at a time when time telugu industry is getting oscars industry is still showing such scenes

[@KotthavariNag]

What about recent Tamil movie Rashi Khanna, Tamanna did😂😂

[@dhaneeshas4997]

​​@@KotthavariNagits ok to be in some films..mostly it is reduced in tamil cinema...even nowadays tamil movies used to have only 2 to 3 songs only...sundar c is a kind of director who add these stuffs for promotion purpose...other than that, item song culture became ver very less in tamil

[@kriz2281]

​@@KotthavariNag it's sunder c masala film.... Just look mainstream tamil commercial films.....even item dance is not scene in tamil films....tamil industry improved a lot

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

@@kriz2281 yeah 70s old man dancing kavaali da with 20s fair grl.👏 He's not an mainstream actor ri8.

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

@@dhaneeshas4997 All the clips he showed were 10/12 yr back. Recently released he only managed to show 2 movies clips which clearly means he was not able to find more. So there is some change it might not be in large scale.

[@jarvis3630]

The no: of comments bashing this video is really alarming...guys relax if this issue is addressed it will definitely change the perspective of atleast some people.. rather than appreciating...u r bashing it lol

[@cineenthusiast1234]

Ya 😊 these guys are frustrated for pointing out an issue in their language films

[@jayakishore565]

I see not much bashing . Iam confused where is bashing . Iam from TFI . I welcome this video . I just don’t see much bashing

[@jarvis3630]

@@jayakishore565 just look through all the comments..and if.. still u don't see it..then that's a serious problem...

[@jayakishore565]

@@jarvis3630 friend I see problem in ppl sitting on ivory towers and judging like u . I clearly said there is no much bashing . That means comparatively to the comments who support bashing comments are less . Try to be humble when giving replies

[@jarvis3630]

@@jayakishore565 nothing more to say mahnn...is bashing the problem or content of the video a problem..why r u frustrated... their were a lot of comments..still their r...i didn't take numbers...u r comment clearly says " u were confused..where is bashing" I hope u r confusion is rectified...

[@generalact2529]

Finally a sensible film critic. Someone we need but don’t deserve. Thanks brother. Keep churning out good stuff like this.

[@somewhereunderthesky7093]

Telugu cinema = Hero entry + punch dialogues + beautiful heroine with navel show + item dance + villian killed by hero + couple of other songs…. Thats its. May be one or two will be different but not noticed by audiences. Thats the phenomenon of Telugu industry.

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

Those A list actors release a film once in 5 yrs & ur r saying all Telugu movie bla bla

[@somewhereunderthesky7093]

@@Raizel_Noblesse Take leading actors last 5 movies…. Its not about the entire industry. There n no of good movies like rangastalam, ratacharithram, hit, falak nama das…. But still the leading actors should choose right scripts. They are still 10-20 years back.

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

@@somewhereunderthesky7093 then what's with that comment. U know that comment does not apply to whole industry.

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

It would be better to take down the comment. Stop degrading whole industry.

[@somewhereunderthesky7093]

@@Raizel_Noblesse when the leading actirs movies got released, that will showcase in another language also. So when the movie cross the border, it’s comes under industry. Only selective audience only watching all movies. Others generally watch only leading actors movie…

[@sumanthmurthy1642]

A 50+ year old guy “romancing” a woman in her 20s is one of the most disgusting things ever. Telugu cinema takes it to a huge level

[@Preeti-vg5wf]

It's an irony that pushpa won the national award

[@jaschowdhari3463]

And RRR didnt

[@cinemaismywife]

its irony that jagan 'REDDY' voted as a chief minister while pk and cbn didn't 🙄

[@venugopalaraothamiri7246]

Allu Arjun won national award not movie

[@SeizeTheDayMukhtar]

With that cringy chest press. Im surprised how many choose to not even talk about it.

[@pstudioz8835]

​@@jaschowdhari3463 ayya ayya super ayya 🙏😂

[@vaishnavimathivanan6420]

As a woman, i find it hard to find a movie that i can remotely relate to and sit through the entire movie without flinching or hurt. i love watching movies in theatres but i had given that up now as it feels like a punishment to watch women being belittled in every aspect which js enjoyed by the audience. And that thing about pronoun is the same in Tamil.

[@muhdahnaf7927]

Saakini Daakini could've been better, but still it's one of the only few Indian movies that truly empower women without making them Mary Sue, with still a good plot. Coming from a Malaysian

[@Ayush-en5it]

I still don't get it how so many Telugu people like Guntur karam.

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

And how is that important to u?

[@Ayush-en5it]

@@Raizel_Noblesse maybe because i like to watch good Telugu movies

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

@@Ayush-en5it oh really that's good.

[@cineenthusiast1234]

They need only hero focused movies even if its a crap they will support they need to see their idol on a big screen thats enough

[@LLl-zi1ef]

Still fail to understand how Okkadu is better than cringe puking Ghilli

[@puffdaddy4920]

The last bit about napolean film in theatre is disturbing. Yet when people with genuine intention contempts such films that deforms the minds they are branded as woke, feminist etc.

[@victoryv116]

Defaming feminism is infact mysogyny because it question later ..

[@pranavamaheshwaris]

Sagar Tetali, thank you! It feels like you cracked open something that was too hard to break. We need more of this and more of voices like yours to call out the utter crass the Telugu movies and the Telugu heroes are generally. The demigod-like male protagonists and their hypermasculine, violent, misogynist personality repel me as a woman. So much so that I had given up on these films since more than a decade ago. Augh.

[@cineenthusiast1234]

Tollywood, bollywood and to some extent ( a very low %) kannada cinema should learn how to treat women from other industries

[@raja-jl9os]

In terms of women represent bollywood is superior than south industry

[@atwunz]

😂 still tamil industry has loosu ponnu.

[@cineenthusiast1234]

@@atwunz iam a malayali brother this DP is a curse for me

[@agfitts]

Depends on type of movies they are making and every Telugu movie doesn’t make these stereotypes of women but it exists because telugu vallaki edi kotha em kadhu these kind of movies are rooted in TFI from 1960s

[@lvshwl]

Why people are not realizing this is true and this is impacting larger section of youth. 😢 for the 1st time I feel like I want to add 1000 likes for an youtube video 😫🤓 👏🏼. People who are not understanding the content and commenting should learn to see the reality. Exactly those are the people who looks actors as demi gods.

[@nsh22987]

Excellent observation and a much needed criticism for the industry. I’m a Telugu person saying this, so can’t blame it on not understanding the local context or jealousy 😄

[@authoenthu]

Finally someone made video on this. That too reputed channel like film companion. Hats off

[@pstudioz8835]

Most hypocrite and biased 😂😂😂😂

[@akhillian]

Brilliant analysis, and so well researched and written. Refreshing to see proper critical thinking applied to Telugu cinema. This industry has innovated so much thus far-imagine what it could do with a more rich and robust plurality of stories and perspectives. Thank you, Sagar and FC South 🙏🏽

[@sai6275]

I don’t think DJ Tillu series has anything to do with gender non equality..just because the grey shade is a female character.. doesn’t mean it’s generalized.. the movie is just talking about some kinds of people who are on purpose cheating the other. No where it’s specific to only gender. Even DJ tillu character itself had a little grey shade but in comic way.

[@cineenthusiast1234]

Ok explain me: an officer of cbid (or some organisation) need to kill biggest criminal in india so they need a man named tillu who is a murderer, so the lady officer make friendship with tillu and has sex with him and eventually he disclose she is a police officer and he is under arrest 😬, what the hell is this ?, this shows a lady officer can easily make a man convinced by offering a sex ?

[@moviewick3207]

I agree, dj tillu is comedy duology and it has nothing to do with misogyny

[@prashantsunariya7986]

Sahi kaha bhai

[@akashreddy2928]

Agreed. DJ Tillu's women characters are very smart and authoritative. It's Tillu who is an idiot.

[@moviewick3207]

@@akashreddy2928 they are grey shade characters, the point of dj tillu is that there is a guy who always falls in love with wrong women. These critics want only positive women characters, why there can't be negative shade or grey shade women characters.

[@AidenR19]

Message to the comments section, first of all he's talking about the Telugu cinema industry, don't get triggered like he attacked you personally. Second if you can't take criticism then you can't evolve into something better.

[@venkatadri1299]

3:39 while venkatesh maha's observation was not wrong, you missed something. "adhi" is used if you disrespect someone or to refer someone who is very close to you. we use "thanu" generally to refer a woman. and we also use "ame","meeru" and by name if they are younger. So refering women same as inanimate objects is not the only way but a rather disrespectful way. Just like using "vadu","veedu" for men, despite being diiferent pronouns from inanimate objects, those pronouns are considered disrespectful and used when you hate someone or someone who is very close.

[@JayZRY]

very true, I rarely see people using thanu meeru athanu aame aaina, especially in telangana

[@ArjunArjun-mt3rc]

As malayali there is no sexism in Malayalam cinema..There are more and more films in Malayalam which talks about women empowerment.. 1)How old are you (2013). 2)The Great Indian kitchen(2022) 3)Jaya jaya jayahe(2023) 4)22 Female Kottayam (2012) 5)Uyare(2019) 5) Vaishali(1988) 6)Nandhanam(2002) 7)Achuvinte Amma(2005) 8)Helen(2019) 9)Take off(2017) 10)5 Sundarikal (2013) 11) Rani Padmini (2015) 12)Godha(2017) 13)C/O of Saira banu 14)June (2019) 15)Kalimannu(2013) 16)Ohm shanti Oshana(2014) 17)Kannezhuthi pottum thottu(1999) 18)Padam onn oru vilapam(2003) 19)Elsamma enna Aankutty(2010) 20)Akashadhootu(1993) 21)Panchagni(1986) 22)Naalu pennugal (2007) 23)Khadamma(2011) 24)ozhimuri(2014) 25)Sallapam(1996) 26)Ente Sooryaputhrikku(1991) 27)Aranyakam(1988) 28)Parinayam(1994) 29)Adaminte Variyellu(1983) 30)Perumazhakalam(2004). This will be very useful for those who loves good films..❤❤.. conquer the world with love...❤❤..spread positivity around everyone

[@JuJuDen87]

Nirthi pode

[@jilljacobson13]

I am a non-Desi long time fan of Telugu films. I have never understood why women are portrayed in such a way, even often disappearing entirely from the 2nd half of films. As an outsider I am less offended (my culture has its own issues with misogyny) and more perplexed. Do women not buy movie tickets there? Why do the men who presumably have Mothers, Sisters, Wives and Daughters still make films this way?

[@harishmemories]

Hi, telugu guy here and good that you are fan of telugu films😊. Where do you come from? I think, I can answer your question, till black and white era, telugu industry has made really great films as the cost of films were considerably low and directors can show their true art skills. but once the movies have shifted to color films that’s were the problem started and also to add to this problem telugu industry have to move to hyderbad during 70‘s and start from scratch again. From there, Telugu industry started making popular movies or so called mass movies to sustain. You have to understand hindi industry were initially started by elite and well educated class and our neighbors Tamil movie industry have their fair share of dravidian and Rationalists technicians who has influence in their movie making. Where as the telugu industry were always driven by few small individuals with pure passion and business mindsets and care less about ideals as they are not that educated like in bollywood. That’s what I think happened, people started here making films on what public like and care less about ideals, misogyny etc. That’s why if you see in the video, our telugu states have highest number of movie Theaters in the country and all it has to do with perfecting the art of popular film making. Of course, there are great directors here even in color era like viswanath, bapu, sangeetham srinivas, shekar kammula etc who cared less about popular cinema and made films on what they like but they never reached their heights as other commercial film makers. Even today the industry is run by individuals with passion and business mindsets, that’s why the industry could even dare to make bahubali. Yes, women here in our telugu states don’t like the way they are being portrayed but unfortunately the only way it can end is by rejecting it so that filmmakers would realise it and change how they are portraying women in movies. Although, I am still hopeful 😅 because the industry is now replacing slowly with young educated technicians. Hopefully in future, we might able to see more commercial movies with good women characters😊.

[@jilljacobson13]

@@harishmemories Thank you, yes that all makes sense to me. I wonder what Shekar Kammula"s film with Dhanush will be like. I am from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Have watched Telugu films 2009-ish Have seen almost 200 at this point. (I watch all the language Industries from India)

[@harishmemories]

@@jilljacobson13 wow you have watched 200 telugu movies , which means you are true telugu cinema lover😊. keep going👍. Regarding to sekhar kammula film with dhanush, I am excited as much as you, it is definetly going to rock as he has always written every character in his films with equal importance😃.

[@chidercorrect]

"Do women not buy movie tickets there? Why do the men who presumably have Mothers, Sisters, Wives and Daughters still make films this way?" - Majority of the audience are male. Male audience cheer for these scenes, in spite of having women they love at home. Interestingly women also watch these movies and cheer and often don't realize they are glorifying or continuing misogyny. The reason for this is Telugu cinema being misogynistic for many generations. All these men and women were once little boys and girls who grew up watching Telugu style misogyny and it became normal for them. So they don't realize what they are watching. And that's how these movies continue to fare well at box office.

[@harishmemories]

@@chidercorrect hey I don’t know where you come from but this is really bad generalization on entire telugu audiences😕. Yes, I agree that our filmmakers have failed in portraying movies with good women characters but that doesn’t make us bad, telugu audiences are known for their benevolence and we encourage any type of good films. What made you think we have highest number of theatres in the country? 😅Just to give you anecdote, when misogyny was it’s peak in movies during 80s director’s like viswanth, bapu were thriving and giving us cult classics and we made them superhits even when their films were released with some other mass masala films. When telugu industry lacked good film makers during 90s, we used to love director mani ratnam and his dubbed films were insanely successful in telugu states. Please stop generalizing us🥲. You are even generalizing telugu women, I don’t know how you have derived it, as I know that women in my house point out many times whenever there are problematic scenes shown in telugu movies🤷‍♂️.

[@dhribbler7303]

Its simple treat women leads in movies as human beings and not pieces of meat. I know the usual comments will come along the way regarding the treatment of women in films saying the usual drivel about audience wanting it and the lead is an aNtI- hErO, but there is a much more basic problem that the video highlights, that it is not about even writing good parts for women in mainstream cinema, even that's some distance away, but rather is something much more basic about treating women characters with some basic dignity rather than some piece of meat for the hero/anti-hero or villain to ogle at or harass. Even in films I otherwise enjoy like Ala Vaikunthapuramalo, there are elements like the hero staring or rather ogling at the heroine's knees which are quite avoidable and do nothing in service of the plot except for showing the hero as a creep. This is just one example among many from films that I otherwise like and just leave a bad taste in the mouth.

[@davanasantosh4180]

Someone close to me has watched telugu movies all his life right from childhood It has shaped his personality and is a big time misogynist Even in every day life he uses film dialogues for regular conversations and he thinks it is very 'cool' to do it😮

[@kPk_editZ]

I agree with this video wholeheartedly. But there is hope. Movies like Jersey, Vedam, Ante Sundaraniki MAHANATI......Ig we will one day break this regressive gender tropes indefinitely.

[@remaanisha740]

Thank you for sharing this perspective. I wish it reaches the directors of Telugu cinema.

[@deepthipedagandham8281]

At last someone speaking my mind . We do have some good movies which see women as a equal .. would like to see more .. of them Very good view of telugu movies ❤

[@rameshgopal3394]

100% agreed , have been feeling the same since decades in TFI , especially starting from Raghavendra Rao films..surprisingly RGV never had such scenes in his peak...having said that other industries were never far behind , its just that they had more other side of films to offer

[@Attitudezero884]

It is becoz other industries changed for example in one scene of 2007 vijay and asin tamil movie sivakasi asin comes to market wearing shorts and gets teased by few boys then vijays saves her and tells her that if you wear this kind of dresses you are bound to be teased and if you wear good dress people will not look at you but in recent master movie when there is similar scene the same vijay says there is nothing wrong in the dresses girls wear but there is wrong in eyes who see them wrongly and people who have wrong thoughts will see wrongly whatever dress girls wear, this is one huge change happened in tamil movies from past to now.

[@peaceoflife6707]

Some one had to say it.. So damn true

[@sneha.........]

Growing up in the 2000s I have never seen a strong woman character that I could relate to in telugu cinema...it was only Rani, Kajol and Priety I looked upto as they did most of the movies in 2000s till 2010.. the fact that pretty woman can be a strong indvidual is not at all shown....a pretty woman is always shown as someone who needs a guy to tell her what to do in life...and a strong woman was always protrayed in negative characters.....I mean mentally strong here....

[@antonyarulprakash3435]

It's the fact of Places where the so called litratures Bible, Quran, ramayana, Mahabharata etc are considered as word of unknown God 😢 unconditionally love and forgive make world paradise ❤

[@urvanamenon6170]

Film companion is so committed to doing its part. Grateful for platforms like these ..Well done, Sagar.. brilliantly done essay

[@amd.amdamd]

Well, it's unbelievable that Balayya worked in a movie which was actually progressive. Bhagavanth Kesari actually was pro-feminist.

[@srividhyag.b.738]

only 552 likes and 277 comments, don't know how many dislikes! What's more alarming is the mindset of the Telugu audience who enjoy this bs!

[@Sweetxy-wc4ei]

Tamil ppl should be the least one to say that. Wait until someone starts to dig Tamil films. I would love to read those comments. We saw what happened to Jayalalithaa.

[@srividhyag.b.738]

@@Sweetxy-wc4ei Nobody here claimed Tamil cinema is without question. Atleast, not in 2024, we make films like this. No Tamil person celebrates the incident you mention, when it happened or was depicted onscreen. Vulgar objection of women is still prevalent predominantly in Telugu cinema, whereas such movies in Tamil are frowned upon here. The last movie I could remember in Tamil that objectified women is as recent as Aranamanai 4, with its item number and all. But no main star does movies like this here. Even Vijay's Varisu had a very bad love track, thanks to a Telugu director. So the point here, golti, is that you are a golti!

[@siddharthdhulipala24]

​@@srividhyag.b.738it's bold of you to assume that just because the audience enjoys a mass movie with misogynist elements, the audience is misogynistic. A mass movie, or any movie for that matter, has several elements that could be liked or disliked. Dance, songs, plot, leads performance, so on and so forth. So a movies success may not be a right indicator to measure the audiences progressiveness is what I would like to conclude. I cant imagine anyone coming out of a theater and saying, " Man! love that scene where hero called her a $lut." Most people choose to ignore and enjoy the rest of the film.

[@Sweetxy-wc4ei]

@@srividhyag.b.738 sambar uhh the smells 🤢🤮 then why is that 0Id fart dancing kavali da with 20s grls.All ur actors acted in those type of movies🤣😂 All those clips he showed in video were 10 yrs back. Vijay J that 🦍 can't stop to remake Telugu films He won't be doing remakes if you Tamil ppl don't like it. Now ur trying to act so funny. The incident show the mindset of u ppl btw he was ur leader u elected him. Sambar da

[@Sweetxy-wc4ei]

@@srividhyag.b.738 sambar uhh it smells 🤢🤮

[@divyajami5458]

Finally, someone spoke about the horrible sexism in Telugu cinema.

[@Stupid-r1x]

Not to defend the tillu franchise but, i don't really think it was promoting misogyny. Ofc like any other film that does, they could add songs/dialogues like 'aadallu maha mudurulu' and 'nammoddu aadavallani nammoddu' to spread the disbelief and ignorance against women. It was all about "RADHIKA" whom tillu feels like is the main problem for his life. I don't think the makers have tried to address the whole woman community. It is only my opinion. But if you talk about the way people are and have been taking it and cheering such scenes where women are not shown properly, yes it is concerning.... and also, I actually feel glad that someone's talking about this and pointing it out as an issue. Good work!

[@User35003]

The more pressing question is why actresses agree to perform in such misogynistic Telugu movies. Ultimately, it comes down to money.

[@lvshwl]

nobody wants to miss big team offers especially from big production houses. Look at baby actress now. I don’t understand why did she chose “love me if you dare”

[@pranaya2800]

I do not think TILLU is misogynistic. Because it is not about hating women it is about women who cheated him.

[@rahuljig1731]

Bro this channel targets telugu cinema. They did not review Sanju movie because it was produced by vidhu vinod chopra husband of anupama chopra. So it's clear that they are biased and intended to pull telugu cinema down which will never happen 😂😂😂

[@victoryv116]

So when women cheat , you should leave her ...why to go such length to revenge to hurt ..then you become more worse than the person who cheated you ..moreover I have never seen any movie where women go after man taking revenge because he is cheated ..if she did it then she will be declared as psychopath., she will the villian ..but here in movie hero is justified ..that's why it's mysogyny ...cheating is wrong but the way it justify the crazy hysterical behavior of man is wrong .

[@pranaya2800]

@@victoryv116 Those heroines in the both the movies of TILLU not just cheated him but they tried to put TILLU into a trap. Murder trap in part 1 and in part 2 also she is a criminal. In both these movies he never tried to take revenge he just tried to get rid of all this mess by exposing them with proofs, because he might fall in that trap. Did you even watch these movies bro?

[@victoryv116]

@@pranaya2800 there is concept of female fatale which extension of stereotyping women i to categories -pure and another is vamp , they are like black and white categories which is rooted in our culture ..so such movies in ocean of similar type of movies only strengthen such stereotypes..I think video also discussed it ..moreover female characters are written in such dumb way so stereotypical conforming many sexist tropes ..give some personality to villain also .

[@pranaya2800]

@@victoryv116 I support this video but still Tillu franchise is not misogyny to be specific. I am talking only about Tillu series.

[@sasankburugu945]

Filmmakers are products of their society. They seek to absorb the ideologies and theories that are reflected in it. However, society often exhibits deep-rooted inequalities that cannot be eliminated overnight. As a result, most filmmakers attempt to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, but in a contemporary manner.

[@GodofShinobi-rx5od]

Mysogny has been an undercurrent theme of this society. Every industry from hollywood to here in indian linguistics based movie industries its prevelant because Movies are a medium of expression of thoughts and imagination of an individual and group. The presence of a special song itself is a case of objectification of a women and using it as tool to promote movies. If you can extend your research more you can find mysogny in every linguistic film and you can also find higher virtuous value providing movies also in every industry. To label and confine only Telugu Industry as mysogynist in nature itself shows either your lack of research or a clear clase of biased propoganda to attribute that to Telugu filim industry. Movie is an art form there is nothing right or wrong about it. If at a larger scale the writer and directors representation is not suitable to current social fabric the Censor board can remove those scenes or label it with appropriate certification such that those sections of people can view it. Film Companion must stop its selective propaganda of targeting Telugu film by and large with these ridiculously narrow research based content that is by and large a phenomenon in every art medium. And to that end remarks where you saw a crowd applauding to certain mysognistic scene and conviently pushing it on to the impact of generational telugu movies i beg to differ you can walk across any hall in the world and you will find some one enjoying such scenes coz we are humans and we resonate to what we feel not just because what they show. The same crowd does have tears at a emotional scene, yell slogans watching a patriotic movie, hold their partners hand when they see a good romantic movie coz move is a form of expression that must be seen as a whole and not just through lens of progressive ideas and modern elitist viewpoint. Lets leave this one space where we can be what we actually feel and resonate with. Of that is something not okay people won't appreciate it as with the case of family star movie which was a disaster. Movies are one of those spaces where someone sits in a closed hall ready to confront the most ugliest and most virtuous thoughts that are portrayed by an creative individual and come out with his own perception about it. Its a free medium and anything beyond censor board has its hands spread to remove it. People by and large have mysogny don't attribute it to movies and especially to telugu movies that shows a very narrow viewpoint from your end for such reputed page that is aiming to celebrate movies and creativity. Feminism and progressiveness are needed for society but its not the fulcrum you fit Art. Art is endless and beyond the scope of our own morality and rules.Its just an expression of our consciousness. Iam not supportive of mysogny, Iam just against of subjection of art to limited space of moral ness and Iam completely against these ill researched propaganda based biased journalism. You have the liberty to make this video and I have the liberty to comment on it.

[@muhammed.a.k]

What an essay. Wow to the creators. Much needed video.

[@srinivasuppu140]

Bhai the same Telugu cinema produced shankarabaranam, Sagara sangamam, swatiMutyam, sundarakanda, bapu sir movies, many more. Telugu cinema brought both sides of a coin. We cherish all kind of cinema.

[@Tarun.m.kumar6]

See you raised a right point. The Directors of these movies are well educated men (not College traditional but educated in the sense of Feelings and very well verse in books). That is why the 80's and 90's directors gave heartwarming tales where females competed head to head with the male leads. The problem with 2000's mass era directors(v.v. vinayak, Puri) are they highly rely on Hero's (not actor's). I hope those directors go out of order or catch up with today's standards.

[@lvshwl]

@@Tarun.m.kumar6 ❤true

[@punneeth89]

Loved it. A well made video essay. Another suggestion for a video essay would be, the movie posters. In pretty much every movie poster, the male protagonist is angry and ready to kill someone. As if aggression is the emotion we men feel and express. The women is some where there as a sex object.

[@anniyanayalaan]

That one scene in arjun reddy... where the hero visited heroines hostel and kissing her in their third meeting where heroine never didn't show any objection...

[@munslow_ak6248]

Thank you for making this video. Scrutiny is what brings change, hope more Film enthusiasts and even Telugu film personalities talk about this, so the this process is catalysed. Been tired of cringing at this stuff.

[@Alexxandalu010]

Film companion south with a western Moral system

[@krishniarumugam]

It reflects the society we live in

[@manifest2203]

Not just mis5gny in the way the characters are portrayed. But the heroines don’t even get recognition. Kalki 2898 stars Deepika Padukone but she is mentioned only after the hero, Amitabh and Kamal Haasan. I get that those two are legend but she is the heroine of the movie. She is not given enough recognition in the movie. I have noticed this with several Telugu movies. It is absolutely d4sgusting. Heroines don’t get good roles at all. The only exception is Bahubali. And two Nani films thag I have seen (Shyam Singha Roy and Hi Naana). Another thing is some dance steps are very very v6ulg6ar.

[@Raizel_Noblesse]

was deepika mentioned during pathaan (for exposing definitely yes) or what about nayanthara for her role in jawan, Srinidhi kgf actress not a single soul talked about her performance. Im not blind Iike u so i have noticed this in every film industry.

[@rishikareddy3412]

Been writing at the intersectionalities of caste and gender politics of tfi for a while now, but who cares, nothing’s gonna change. However if u would like to explore further, The strong women played by bhanumati g. Varalakshmi, kannamba, santhakumari (each of them have been involved with direction and production enabling them to wield more power and autonomy) in not just the films but in mentoring some of the big male superstars and how Jamuna stood her ground and gave it back to the likes of ntr and anr successfully, from those days to how with the rise of the superstar and the disproportionate pay scales, minimised screen times of everyone but this hero (of even character artistes, remember how rich relangi, svr, rajababu, suryakantham, girija were) has now paved way for today’s voiceless mannequins to titillate the chads make for a great thesis. Yeah, the reason for the rise of the super hero cult is in itself entrenched in the fan wars that are a proxy for caste conflicts, and it’s definitely one of the many reasons of the sorry state of affairs here. an interesting academic discussion to have in order to find solutions would be to take a deeper look at understand the changing syntax of cinema over the years within the socio cultural setting of Telugu households, our refusal to evolve and stick to status quo and if there are any lessons from the past that we can adapt to change this.

[@pstudioz8835]

Overaction cheyaku akka Velladi Mari biased ga untayi Prati chota bad untadi kani TFI is great

[@vm9429]

I agree that what you said about Telugu movies is true. However, Hindi movies are much worse! They showcase toxic masculinity, use vulgar language, and expose and insult women. This is common in all Indian movies, including Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Canada, and other Indian languages. PS: I had to repost my comment as I wasn't able to reply to comments.

[@Attitudezero884]

But thing is they changed and peoole openly talk about it which still is not happening in telugu movies and in hindi amir khan openly apologised for acting in such movies, in tamil shivakarthikeyan openly appolized during remo but no telugu actor openly spoke about this.

[@vm9429]

@@Attitudezero884 I agree with you, but look at the industry in Kerala now. I’m a huge fan of Malayalam cinema, and I can’t look at the movies with the same respect anymore. Just because someone responds in every industry doesn’t mean there aren't issues. Things are changing in every industry, for sure. All I’m saying is that we are all Indians, and these issues exist throughout India, in all languages. I’m not supporting Telugu cinema in any particular way; all I’m saying is that it’s the same in every language, whether you agree or not.

[@gameguru8591]

​​@@vm9429 saying "everyone does that" will not make Telugu industry any better. Yes there are issues in other industries as well but they have improved because they took the criticism and realised that they need to change. The problem with Telugu Industry is that most of the fans do not even consider the misogyny and sexism as "problem", infact they celebrate it.

[@vm9429]

@@gameguru8591 i don’t know why you think I said « Telugu cinemas has changed » I never said that. No industry has changed. Show me one example. Which cinema industry in India changed ? Every cinema industry in india still objectifies, degrade and insult women. Show me an example. Again and again I don’t believe Telugu cinema improved in anyway. All in saying is along with Telugu all industries in India are same. Nothing has changed. Every industry celebrates sexism, misogyny and degrading women.

[@Attitudezero884]

​​@@vm9429it has changed if you cannot see it then i cannot say anything

[@qrpprocs5845]

For those who spread hate against telugu cinema and point fingers on telugu cinema. No one in the world could make a shankarabharanam and make it the blockbuster it is and no one could come anywhere near k.vishwanath sir as a director. The so called commercial mass masala cinema stars like mahesh babu did seetamma vaakitlo in the peak of his stardom with venkatesh sir in a family drama. Forget whistle worthy moments it doesn't have a single punch dialogues or action episodes. You take these disasters (films) as reference and show them as this is what telugu cinema is. Have you ever watched a prashant Varma, vivek aathreya, tarun Bhaskar, Rahul, ravikanth, hanu raghavapudi or the previous generation babu, vamsi, karunakaran, vijaya Bhaskar, chandra shekar yeleti, shekar kammula many more there are and many more to come. I don't have a problem with having an awareness on this topic and discussed and addressed as well. But don't try to , don't dare to label telugu cinema like this

[@Attitudezero884]

Then address it ask your stars to speak about it like amir khan ask them to apologise.

[@mohnishr481]

Brave to make a video on this very topic after you are from film companion south, you know your flaws and your strengths, ❤

[@antiwokehuman]

Let’s be real. Most mainstream telugu movies are just embarrassingly bad. Writing, acting, screenplay etc are all substandard

[@pstudioz8835]

Comments are from the ones who are think they are too superior and nothing but the remakewood and sambar fans Kani this misogyny is not entirely false even if everyone knows film companion has a personal grude on TFI because of u kno what 😂 Ismart Shankar is the only film to be the actual symbol of "misogyny" in TFI

[@Attitudezero884]

As usual typical telugu guy trying to avoid topic😂😂😂😂

[@TheHima4u]

You either didn't watch other industry movies or selectively choosed to ignore these things in other industries. I am not here to defend tollywood. But it would have been more appropriate if you address the problem in a generic way rather than targetting a particular industry. Bcz if you open your eyes and see it clearly, you can find these things in all the industries. Though it doesn't mean it is right. If you really want to address an issue, try to be more generic rather than attributing to particular section when it is not actually. It only leads to a discussion about different industries rather than the real issue Misogyny (I hope you are really concerned about misogyny).

[@arunguduru7608]

you had me till you mentioned DJ Tillu

[@moviewick3207]

Me too

[@pstudioz8835]

Ante sequal lo nijamga ne daridram undhi kada adedo maa daggar karuvu valla hit ayipoyindi leda Adi chala cringe pro max

[@ManideepReddykanduri]

Greatly biased dissection, to select Puri films to represent an industry as vast as the tollywood is a tragedy here, Puri himself says his heros are not to represent an ideal man or ideal human for that reason and its completely on the grounds of a person crafted from the sheer wrath of a war torne world kind of, if you could only look into the industry more closely you will find movies like mahanati, Yashoda, Rudramadevi, back in days of chiranjeevi as well Actress Vijayashanti came up with movies like Osei Ramulamma and Kartavyam. There has been this revolutionary directors and producers brining such movies to the screen from time to time. In the days of Sr. NTR where movies were mostly representation of the historical hindu mythology, there were movies revolving aroung great women characters of the mythology like Satyabhama and Sita. One must understand here that this misogyny or representation is not a complete fictional representation but what largely existed and still present in certain sections of the society, one cannot divide it by caste or economic class but the personal choices and situations of the masses is what selectively represented in the movies, let it be any industry, for instance if you pick any 20 movies randomly from the bollywood as well you could find such representation of women and certain level of misogyny, its this kind of blind eyed analysis choosing the worst movies or even only worst bits of the movies in an industry and putting it on scale with selective movies like Taare Jameen Par and 3 idiots etc. 5:56 The hero here is a guy returning from a juvenile prison for all of his childhood and the character with a loose tounge to teigger every other person in the movie, to pick such one selective scene and mark the character or movie and for goodness sake a whole insustry and finally you want to end it with a high note so take an Hollywood example expecting to put more shame👏 10:15 There are audience sane enough to understand not to be influenced by a cinema to treat the people in their life differently and there is whole bunch who have a real world experience of these delicate concenpts, to just see it on a screen and feel so disturbed about it is our inability to process the difference between the screen character and real world and where we clearly fit in and what doesn't apply to us, the director builds his characters based on the real world incidents which he or she would have seen or faced in real life or heard about it, puts such characters in an imaginary world of their own and showcases such world to us, if large group of audience can relate to it and make it a blockbuster then its a problem with the society not the person who showcased such emotions, if we are unable to appreciate and make films like Mahanati and Yashoda on a lareger scale then also it is a problem with the society. Hope you understand better to not shame an industry or picking selective film makers to shame an industry. ✌️🙏

[@naveens696]

I agree to what u said...there ia misogyny in telugu movies. But in case of the movie baby....what is wrong in the movie...there are women who cheat or are gold diggers and there are men falling victims to them...what is wrong in showing that in movies.....had the genders been reversed that movie... most reviewers would have been appreciated it....why this double standard.

[@Abhi-lj7xp]

The can't accept the reality 🤡 according to simps like him and feminsts all women are saints 🤡

[@chidercorrect]

The point of bringing Baby movie into the discussion was to mention what Telugu male audience typically cheer for - scolding a heroine. And that is not Telugu men's fault. It is society and decades of Telugu cinema fault. Showing bad women has become either a major conflict point of the movies, or a simple filler scene/comedy dialogue that audience could easily relate to. Male characters who are flawed are usually heroic and we clap for them. But female characters who are flawed are usually scolded and scolded. It is about constant pattern that is still continuing. Not about one single movie.

[@Acetvn-kg6ty]

​@@chidercorrect there is a difference. Male characters having flaws grow to character. And Male characters go through many tough situations. a woman cheating is still a bad case. You don't see audience cheering for Men who cheat women. Then don't expect women to get excuse when they does the same.

[@eaglemgtow2789]

​@@chidercorrect SAME WITH THE FEMALE AUDIENCE!! female audience also get influenced by Females beating Up men in female empowerment films.... What makes you think Female audience THINK OTHERWISE??

[@birdtrails]

Brilliant essay. More of such honest and much needed topics, FC. It is long due.

[@ratnasakritip8466]

End of this video is extremely disturbing than anything, that literally shook me.

[@rickroll5504]

The comments only prove the point of this video

[@JuJuDen87]

One guy dreaming about Changing opinion of Everyone by replying 😂😂😂😂

[@prashch5223]

​​@@JuJuDen87We can understand him maybe he belongs to TFI, but why 3/4 mallu accounts trying so hard to change opinions by replying every single comment. It's not about mallu FI then what's making them so anxious. Now that's funny 😂🤣😂

[@ravivalli240]

Sandeep is the guy for u

[@thilagavelu8507]

Great insights! Hopefully filmmakers can tap into it.

[@MOTURISAKETHSAI]

is this restricted to only telugu cinema😒it is same in tamil,kannada,malayalam as well but you cant question tamil movies bcoz their audience will bash you and thats why you dont dare to do that you are asking a right question but it is completely biased and targeting only telugu cinema

[@silparema7555]

Is it same in Malayalam?

[@Attitudezero884]

Tamil cinema came out of it long back bro even actor like vijay who uttered misogynistic diologues in past have changed his diologues today.

[@ArjunArjun-mt3rc]

​@@silparema7555As malayali there is no sexism in Malayalam cinema..There are more and more films in Malayalam which talks about women empowerment.. 1)How old are you (2013). 2)The Great Indian kitchen(2022) 3)Jaya jaya jayahe(2023) 4)22 Female Kottayam (2012) 5)Uyare(2019) 5) Vaishali(1988) 6)Nandhanam(2002) 7)Achuvinte Amma(2005) 8)Helen(2019) 9)Take off(2017) 10)5 Sundarikal (2013) 11) Rani Padmini (2015) 12)Godha(2017) 13)C/O of Saira banu 14)June (2019) 15)Kalimannu(2013) 16)Ohm shanti Oshana(2014) 17)Kannezhuthi pottum thottu(1999) 18)Padam onn oru vilapam(2003) 19)Elsamma enna Aankutty(2010) 20)Akashadhootu(1993) 21)Panchagni(1986) 22)Naalu pennugal (2007) 23)Khadamma(2011) 24)ozhimuri(2014) 25)Sallapam(1996) 26)Ente Sooryaputhrikku(1991) 27)Aranyakam(1988) 28)Parinayam(1994) 29)Adaminte Variyellu(1983) 30)Perumazhakalam(2004). This will be very useful for those who loves good films..❤❤.. conquer the world with love...❤❤..spread positivity around everyone

[@ArjunArjun-mt3rc]

​@Sayooj.shyam8As malayali there is no sexism in Malayalam cinema..There are more and more films in Malayalam which talks about women empowerment.. 1)How old are you (2013). 2)The Great Indian kitchen(2022) 3)Jaya jaya jayahe(2023) 4)22 Female Kottayam (2012) 5)Uyare(2019) 5) Vaishali(1988) 6)Nandhanam(2002) 7)Achuvinte Amma(2005) 8)Helen(2019) 9)Take off(2017) 10)5 Sundarikal (2013) 11) Rani Padmini (2015) 12)Godha(2017) 13)C/O of Saira banu 14)June (2019) 15)Kalimannu(2013) 16)Ohm shanti Oshana(2014) 17)Kannezhuthi pottum thottu(1999) 18)Padam onn oru vilapam(2003) 19)Elsamma enna Aankutty(2010) 20)Akashadhootu(1993) 21)Panchagni(1986) 22)Naalu pennugal (2007) 23)Khadamma(2011) 24)ozhimuri(2014) 25)Sallapam(1996) 26)Ente Sooryaputhrikku(1991) 27)Aranyakam(1988) 28)Parinayam(1994) 29)Adaminte Variyellu(1983) 30)Perumazhakalam(2004). This will be very useful for those who loves good films..❤❤.. conquer the world with love...❤❤..spread positivity around everyone

[@kaparthisrishyam2892]

@@Attitudezero884 this is a joke. i think u have stopped watching his movies.

[@lvshwl]

I am happy that Film companion made of video about this 😌

[@Anu90421]

finally someone said it out loud i’m sick of it

[@chris-hl3lr]

Finally some one spit out !!!

[@davanasantosh4180]

I resonate very much with the last sentence in this sentence 'i think telugu cinema taught him'

[@jananeerchandran9866]

Loved the content! Finally someone talked about it!

[@prashanthsinehan2894]

Watch pelli choopulu, Fida, Lovestory, Arundhati

[@VishalKM-p8m]

If you want to watch good telugu cinema, try movies by K Viswanath, Vamsi, Bapu, Jandhyala, Sekhar Kammula, Tharun Baskhar, Venkatesh Maha, Adivi Sesh, Krish Jagarlamudi, Chandrasekar Yeleti and SSR.

[@supermama1238]

SSR??? cheema scene in simhadri, and anushka scenes in vikramarkudu etc are heights

[@kriz2281]

Vamsi ? Lol

[@kushulu9320]

1. Animal and Kabir singh are huge block busters all over India. I don't understand why you are attributing their short comings that you think to only Telugu people. In all fairness, you should blame everyone who liked them - telugu speaking or not. 2. And what about the time Bunny from "Yeh jawani hai deewani" tells Nanina, who clearly hasn't shown any interest yet, that he knows how to make twins and invites to show her. You don't find that inappropriate? Ofcourse it is inappropriate but you know why people still love the film. Because that's how Bunny has been established as a character - playboy of sorts. Him inviting Naina might be inappropriate but not inconsistent with his character. The same goes for films like Khaleja, Ismart shankar and Baby. The protagonists in these films might be inappropriate at times but never inconsistent. I mean Shankar from Ismart shankar is a gully rowdy. Obviously he wouldn't have a sense of respecting his girl friend's privacy. It's only when a mistreatment comes at the expense of a character that it looks derogatory like in Family star. And such moments are always codemned by Telugu audience - the reason why Family star has failed.(Don't get fooled by success meets. Nobody liked Family star) 3. And why "progressive woman" is the only right way to portray women in movies? Are there only progressive women in society? No. There are all kinds of women. There are women like Chithra from Pellichoopulu and also Indu from RX100. And how come when somebody makes a women empowerment film, it is immediately praised but when somebody makes a film like RX100 which talks about the angst of a man being objectified and betrayed, it is suddenly labelled misogynistic and toxic male. What is this hypocracy? Don't men issues deserve films? (Fight club and Arjun reddy being cases in point as well) The problem is you are trying to impose your ideologies onto the characters, wanting the characters to behave according to your beliefs rather than seeing the character for what it is and what the filmmaker has intended. I'm very sure that the 17 year old hasn't learnt to cheer for misbehavior on a woman from Telugu films. May be you should wonder if his parents raised him well!

[@sushmaprabhu5077]

Simple answer is the director who pitches and accepts to direct such movies is a telugu When SSR is celebrated as telugu pride. This will also be remembered in that way

[@cinemaismywife]

@@sushmaprabhu5077 well its the women choice to pick these kind of movies, so..... 🧐

[@kushulu9320]

@@sushmaprabhu5077 Ok, the director is a Telugu guy. What about the actors? They could have questioned him. But it seems like they understood the film in totality rather than nitpicking character flaws.

[@dpasumarthy]

Being a Telugaite myself, I have maybe watched very few movies in the ones mentioned, from which I could catch the context rather easily. I also see that many (almost all) telugu men of my generation mirror the male characters on screen, and truth be told, it's infuriating to the point that I would never want a Telugaite partner, although I love the language and certain things about my roots.

[@ravitejasikhakolli]

Dj tillu is not misogynistic, get it corrected

[@tejpratapmarella9767]

i do agree with a lot of things you have pointed out, it needs to be pointed out, that change and realization is very important, as a telugu person i feel you should have done and presented more research on both the mysogny elements in the mainstream and also the good movies. Because it looks like you have presented very less about the good movies. I know that it is the mainstream movies are the ones more watched and so its effect is more so it needs to be critcized but the telugu film industry is just not those shitty movies, i also watch the other ones, i also believe that things will and are changing with emergence of new film makers like vivek athreya, vidyadhar kagita, shouryuv, srikanth nagothi. I dont know how films like family star and guntur karam performed at box office but i have seen fans, the audience disliking the films but i think it because of overall bad writing not necessarily because of treatment of women character, but i hope that these regressive character treatment (especially in the mainstream movies) does become a topic of discussion as it is very important for the change we want to see. As a telugu guy i do not want such movies cause a black mark for the whole Telugu Film Industry, while there are good movies like month of madhu, ante sundaranili, hi nanna, brochevaru evuru ra, gaami, to be ignored. i dont think that dj tillu 2 was a bad movie, it was entertaining, i think there is a difference between wrong treatment of character and writing a character, DJ tillu 2 has characters which are written well serves the purpose of story while not being regressive, cmon guys it was just two people making out with consent. At the same time there exists movies like pushpa which is according to me a nice movie but with a regressive character of rashmika, the lead pays money for a kiss, and potrayed as romantic, the whole love story subplot of the movie was just sensless, but removing the subplot it was a nice movie

[@MaheshReddyB]

Thoughtful and truthful insight unlike this video’s script. The writer wakes-up and decides to conveniently over-look good movies where women are treated right/represented well in Telugu and intentionally doesn’t point out misogyny in other movie industries per say. I hope the same writer wakes-up one day and spit the facts about other movies from different industries where women were/are ill-treated and mis-represented. Which I guess wouldn’t happen. I would be happy if proven otherwise

[@prashch5223]

​@@MaheshReddyBhe won't do that if he starts to expose other industries that day he will be jobI3ss. All this trying to bring change is a joke he just wanna please his w0ké master's.

[@tejpratapmarella9767]

​@@prashch5223 i don't think he wants to please anyone, it is true that when compared to other industries in the present time many mainstream Telugu films which mostly are also screened outside two Telugu states still have regressive themes which other industries had in the past too but eventually the amount of these themes reduced, I hope even TFI changes, no hate to the writer of this video he has done the right thing, Watch tried and refused productions, he talks about even other industries in context of regressive themes

[@Attitudezero884]

​​@@prashch5223 lol in other industries these were pointed out and criticized by audience itself even tamilians didn't leave vijay itself in such a way vijay changed his diologues in master from whatever he uttered in his past movies

[@naninani1549]

I agree with this posts concerns but It's not just in Telugu cinema alone every industry has movies like this but targeting only Telugu and your blindness towards other industries is quite noticible, instead you could have made entire indian cinema, and also do one on anti hindu and Christian conversion propaganda in all the industries ..

[@Attitudezero884]

Other industries changed them already if you see even actor like vijay who uttered misogynistic diologues in past have changed his diologues today the example for it is sivakasi movie dress scene where he says girls are bound to be teased of they wear indecent clothes and will be respected if they wear decent clothes but in recent master movie in similar scene he says there is no wrong in girls dress but wrong is in eyes you look at them and a person having wrong thoughts will look at girls in wrong way only whatever dress they wear.

[@pranaya2800]

I agree with this video, but this problem is across all language industries in India. But I feel this video is made with an agenda to defame Telugu film industry by generalizing the whole industry. They are many good movies too. This video was made to scapegoat the Telugu film industry by blaming every problem on to it. I also feel that a lobby is working against Telugu film industry to bring it down. Many videos are being made against Telugu film industry on KZbin. The final part was hilarious "Telugu cinema inspired Napoleon".

[@Sageyear]

This is also partially why lot of Telugu girls are discouraged when it comes acting in movies. You will see mostly actresses from other regions. Didn't they find this misogynistic? They can choose to not act in these objectified roles, but accepted for financial incentives and fame. They are equally to blame. In fact, Telugu industry has always made more movies where male actors are usually simps, this crazy obsession for a girl, lol.

[@krisskross6074]

Tamil cinema has a huge list of films with simps as the lead male characters. They have been making such films for decades.

[@krishnasai7891]

Directors think audience are still 1990s mass audience singing ee Peta ku Nene mestri . Type. Telugu audience has evolved and no more glorifying these kind of movies. Guntur karam and Family star are flop and dubbed manjumel and premalu is hit. This proves that Telugu audience want to see change.

[@Bharathuuuuuuu]

Don't force writers to write something for women. If there is a space for women definitely they will. There are many great women characters written in "Telugu mass cinema". No creative writer or director kicks off shoot by keeping gender politics in mind. And if they are forced to do so then it's not organic writing. Show equal respect to both men and women in the real world. Then automatically that will reflect in cinema as well. Till then let them entertain us showing the reality unlike preaching about women.

[@dhribbler7303]

This is not about even writing good parts for women in mainstream cinema, even that's some distance away, but rather is something much more basic about treating women characters with some basic dignity rather than some piece of meat for the hero/anti-hero or villain to ogle at or harass. Even in films I otherwise enjoy like Ala Vaikunthapuramalo, there are elements like the hero staring or rather ogling at the heroine's knees which are quite avoidable and do nothing in service of the plot except for showing the hero as a creep. This is just one example among many from films that I otherwise like. And in the real world acting like those heroes will rightfully bring one a harassment case.

[@jarvis3630]

​@@dhribbler7303spot on..but sad that most of them took this video as a hate.. instead of addressing the issue and vote for a change 😊

[@Bharathuuuuuuu]

@@dhribbler7303 Is there a problem only with Telugu cinema ? Why target only Telugu commercial cinema ? Especially Anupama chopra bashing Telugu cinema since so many days. Why ? May be no one in Telugu industry has time to give interview to her as Sandeep Reddy vanga revealed. I see more women objectifying scenes in Tamil. But only talk shit about Telugu commercial cinema. Why ? Coz they are doing well at the box office. Do you think great writers like puri and trivikram doesn't know how to treat a women in scene ? They have broader understanding towards society and cinema. Stop teaching them. And learn watching cinema. Understand first.

[@cineenthusiast1234]

​@@Bharathuuuuuuutamil? Seriously, objectification and misogyny or ill treatment is different, objectification is there in everywhere

[@thehypermonk89]

Seriously?! You think Telugu industry is doing well at the ticket counters just because a handful movies collected some bazillion rupees?! The helth of an industry is never rated by the box office records nor the awards…. How many Telugu movies do you think released in ‘24?! And how many of them do you reckon to be profitable for the stakeholders?! I’ve got no hassle with you, man!! And maybe, this video was built as a tool of propaganda. But to think that we’re as an industry are flawless is only encouraging filmmaker’s to push down more regressive content down our throats…. Cheers!!

[@siddhuy315]

Why don’t film companion put a round table, bring Telugu directors and ask the same question? Adding to that, stop pretending some other industries are not doing the same.

[@dnapolren]

Heck when are we going to move on to female superstars and female only protagonists

[@therooster030]

The biggest influence of Indians is the indian movie. If u want to have respectful men and women, people have to stop encouraging these kind of movies. The best way for this is stop watching this movies.

[@harishmemories]

Hi sagar, I want to say this is a interesting point of view that you are trying to say. I am with you because I also want to see more movies like Anand and protraying of women in telugu movies in a progressive way. But you missed one fundamental point that is if the movies is about lets say a lower class and uneducated person that is living in 80´s or 90´s like in pushpa movie, do you really expect him to have moral compass towards women🤷‍♂. I don´t know what to say man. It is exactly these type of views that is now causing so called anti´-feminist waves and fundamentally eradicating cause of simone de beauvoir🤦‍♂. I just want to say let the movie makers create their own characters, yes even I don´t like it how they are protraying women but I also don´t like when a character like pushpa acts like a feminist. It is rediculous😅. Yes, you are right on one thing that we are celebrating too many so called ´´ rowdy heros´´, but you have to understand the business of movie theatres as majority of audience are young men and everyone like to see gray characters rather than good guys these days. The only solution for this problem, the actors, directors and producers need to do some kind to correction within themseleves before the start of shooting the film. For example, take family star, Has the character Govardhan could really said those unbearble and stupid lines towards the villain? The director could always defend his lines and tell why he could say it in that situation but the actors and producers could have stopped it and say it honestly that this really stupid and rejected it.

[@chidercorrect]

"But you missed one fundamental point that is if the movies is about lets say a lower class and uneducated person that is living in 80´s or 90´s like in pushpa movie, do you really expect him to have moral compass towards women" - Problem is showing such behavior as a cool thing. Ultimately he is still a hero who is cheered for and he never faces consequences for his actions. Problem is not showing misogyny realistically like you said. Problem is glorifying it.

[@harishmemories]

@@chidercorrect Good point raised but let’s agree to disagree, first let filmmakers make how they want to make. Yes, I don’t like it but if you think about it, it is a thin line, when the movie is about let’s say pushpa and movie was narrated by his friend who has similar ideals as pushpa. I don’t know man, what to expect from him, he will of course glorify about his friend each and everything including misogyny. It’s all about character perspective that the movie is trying to say. Yes, it’s problematic that hero is not facing any consequences, but that’s also how life functions as well man, some people never face any consequences for their behavior but majority in general do face it and that’s how society in general move forwards. As I said again, we are celebrating too many movies on so called rowdy heroes, but I still have hope that in future more film makers would make movies on normal heros, the one telugu cinema has made during black and white era. Then it could balances out😊.

[@sridharturaga5512]

Mass movies by nature are masculine and, hence, have an element of misogyny. Puri Jaganath increased the levels of misogyny with his movies. However, this video indulges in overanalysis. Political correctness is not important in movies. Else, it ends up like mainstream bollywood.

[@cineenthusiast1234]

Seriously? Do you have time to watch malayalam movie avesham ? Its an action comedy or mass movie can you point out misogyny ? Did you ever watched vikram, kaithi in tamil ? Its mass, action, thriller ? Do you ever seen misogyny. The movie need not be politically correct, a hero should be, a villain can be politically incorrect but worshipping a hero who is politically incorrect is not a good thing, eg. Animal, kabir singh or arjun reddy

[@nagilanrajmohan1705]

Then make mass movies without heroines like aavesham,vikram,jailer even a mass movie like thallumala or maaveeran contains heroines without defaming them.Don't scream without accepting the criticism.

[@raja-jl9os]

​@@cineenthusiast1234 south and bollywood both are same 😂

[@raja-jl9os]

​@@nagilanrajmohan1705 you can also make good slick action movie but slick movies don't work in mainstream cinema

[@nagilanrajmohan1705]

@@raja-jl9osaavesham ,vikram,jailer,thallumala is mainstream cinema see the box office and comment.These films attained success without showing misogyny

[@KotthavariNag]

Total hate towards Telugu, prove me there is no misogyny others main stream film industry😂😂😂 ,i have been observing this film companion over the years olny hate on Telugu film industry, if really born your mother and Father come to straight man don't cry always Telugu film industry 😂😂😂😂

[@m.l1466]

There is but not as much as telengue movies...most most of the movies we make is misogynist or sexualizing woman