Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know who Vijay Deverakonda is. The Telugu actor is most famous for oozing sex appeal which is directly proportional to his toxic masculinity.
If you thought Shahid Kapoor was problematic in “Kabir Singh”, know that Vijay was the OG, for he essayed the role of “Arjun Reddy” in the original Telugu blockbuster—his claim to fame.
“Anybody trying to grow in their field. Will Always have a Target on their back…” Vijay had tweeted. He is probably right (just this one time, though). Because: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
As someone who is in a position to influence lakhs of people, I think it’s only fair to hold him (and other public figures) to higher standards than the rest of us mere mortals.
With that being said, let’s have a look at some of the things the heartthrob has said in the past, which made my head throb:
When Vijay Said He Empathised With An Abuser
On an episode of “Koffee With Karan”, he said he took on the role of Arjun Reddy because he could empathise with him. He said there was nothing misogynistic or anti-feminist about the film.
At least, the actor had the awareness to admit that it could have been triggering for those who have been in an abusive relationship, or are currently in such a relationship.
“Imagine you have been in a relationship which was abusive and then you see this film, it’s painful to watch this happening on screen. These are your worst nightmares as a woman, as a wife, or as a girlfriend and you see it playing out on a screen. You f*****g hate it. And I understand that you disagree with it and I respect that you don’t like it,” he told Karan Johar.
How can something that is nightmarish for nearly half the world’s population not be misogynistic? You don’t have to be in an abusive relationship to realise that people slapping each other in the name of love is toxic with a capital T.
Plus, it’s not just about how Arjun Reddy treated his girlfriend; the way he behaves with other female characters in the film is equally problematic.
When Vijay Flaunted His Casual Sexism
“There’s always a beautiful drama Queen who will come between a mother and son!” read the caption of Vijay’s Instagram post, announcing the release of a song from his latest film “Liger”.
Two-minute-silence for the manchild who feels the need to pit women against each other, while happily reaping the benefits of physical and emotional labour by his mother, and emotional as well as sexual labour by his love interest, nay “queen”.
As Twitter user @shreyashetty8 aptly put it: “Y’all are allowing such captions in 2022????” Not only are we “allowing” it, it looks like we seem to have no problem celebrating it…*smh*
When Vijay Advocated For Dictatorship
In an interview with film critic and former deputy editor of The Hindu, Baradwaj Rangarajan, Vijay said: “I don’t even think everyone should be allowed to vote.”
Democracy didn’t seem to be his cup of tea, for he went on to argue in favour of dictatorships, saying: “I would like to be a dictator if at all. I think that’s the way to go. That’s the way you can make change. ‘Just shut up…I’m having good intentions’. You don’t know what’s good for you maybe, but just stick to this and 5-10 years down the line, it’s going to pay off. I think somewhere, dictatorship is the right way, but you need to have a good guy.”
As every dictatorship ever in the history of the world has taught us, intention and impact are different. And: “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Don’t believe me? Think Hitler, Mussolini, Gaddafi, Sadam, the al-Assad family, the Kim family, and the list goes on and on… Not that all democracies lead to good guys being elected, but at least people don’t have to “shut up”. They can speak up and put a new “good guy” in place of the previous one, if he is not living up to their expectations.
When Vijay Body-Shamed A Co-Star
In an old interview with his co-stars from “Dear Comrade”, Rashmika Mandanna and Shruti Ramachandran, Vijay oh-so-casually body-shames Rashmika saying:
“Because if we’re in Hyderabad, she’ll go to [the] gym twice a day… And, we’re scared she’ll become one beast by the time… At one point in the film, she was more muscular than me…”
(See 28:49 onwards)
He continues: “She is deadlifting like 60 kgs, 70 kgs… I have ensured that she stops lifting weights because she was… We were calling her ‘Dangal’. We’re like you look like that… These wrestlers.”
Shruti tries to salvage his insensitive remarks by saying that Rashmika plays a cricketer in the film so it’s okay if she had a muscular physique. But, he doesn’t budge. Instead, he chooses to double down.
It’s heartbreaking that body-shaming women has been normalised to the extent where men like Vijay (and even Ranbir Kapoor for that matter) don’t think twice before mouthing judgmental comments about the bodies of the women they claim to respect and love.
*Excuse me while I go barf in the corner*
As conventionally attractive as Vijay looks, it all goes down the drain when he opens his mouth. Do you agree with me? Tell me about some other instances where actors like Vijay Deverakonda made you feel uncomfortable with their views.