Every workspace or profession has a couple of drawbacks and the entertainment industry is one of them too. In the past, several acclaimed Bollywood stars have pointed fingers at the Hindi film industry alleging that it’s sexist, has double standards, and is a toxic place to be.
People have also criticized the Telugu film industry for having songs that objectify women and reportedly promote stalking as romance.
However, ace Telugu actor Nagarjuna Akkineni rubbishes the accusation saying that a lot is lost in translation. The literal translation of the language makes it come across as sexist.
“The Telugu language is such, if you translate it literally into English, it is going to look very, very sexist,” Hindustan Times quoted him saying.
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“I also tried to analyse this with many people and talked about it. Even if you pick out Bangarraju songs, they are pure folk tunes. If you translate those lines, it will look like, I mean, there are lines which are so beautiful when they are written in Telugu but if you translate it in English, it is going to be like, ‘Are you going to sleep with me tonight?’ They translate like that but if you look at it, you see Telugu women singing those.”
However, he added, “There are some films which definitely are doing what you said they are doing. The world is not a perfect place, this happens. But the majority is not like that.”
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The ‘LOC Kargil’ actor further added that in no time the industry will see strong female actors taking centre stage.
“In the next five to ten years, you need equally strong woman character now. Without that, it’s not going to work because of the woman-power rising. They are asking questions, which is fantastic. This is what I noticed in the early 60s and 70s. My father’s films had incredibly strong male and female characters, which I feel is going to come back,” The Indian Express quoted him saying.
Giving his two cents on the matter, his son and actor Naga Chaitanya said that he would put his foot down if asked to ‘portray something wrong about women or society’.
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No space is perfect. Let’s hope the father and son who have been ruling the Telugu film industry are able to bring positive change in their workspace.