Hyderabad: Vijay Deverakonda has reacted to the trolling surrounding his upcoming film ‘Ranabaali’, addressing social media claims that audiences would prefer Rajinikanth’s ‘Jailer 2’.
Vijay alleged that the criticism directed at the film online was “manufactured hate”, claiming that some trolls were being paid to spread it.
The comments came ahead of the trailer launch of Rahul Sankrityan’s ‘Ranabaali’, which stars Vijay alongside Rashmika Mandanna.
The trailer was unveiled on Thursday afternoon, while Vijay interacted with the press in Hyderabad earlier in the day and addressed questions about the film.
When asked about the online “hate” directed at him, Vijay questioned whether he was expected to change himself simply to please his critics.
He also addressed the box-office clash between ‘Ranabaali’ and Nelson Dilipkumar’s ‘Jailer 2’, starring Rajinikanth.
He said, “Should I stop because someone thinks my dreams and hard work are unnecessary? Should I start acting because someone thinks my honesty comes off as arrogance? Should I step back because someone thinks my self-confidence comes across as pride? If they cannot digest my journey, must I sit at home?”
The actor then added, “I won’t change; they’re the ones who need to. I wish people concentrated on bettering themselves for their families. I enjoy success stories a lot.”
Vijay went on to say that he does not consider the online backlash genuine “hate”, claiming that some trolls are allegedly being “paid” to target him.
“First of all, we can’t even call it hate. Because 90% of it is manufactured. There’s a batch that drops Reels at a time that they’d rather watch Jailer 2 over Ranabaali, despite it being a Telugu film,” he said.
He added, “People can have opinions, but if you see the same opinion everywhere, it’s manufactured. What they must understand is that the attacks they’re paid for today, AI will do tomorrow. No one can stop it. The person paying them will stop.”
Vijay also questioned whether social media could be used as a platform for something more constructive. “Use social media to promote and better things. What is the point of using it to bring down someone? But that’s the world we live in, what to do?” he said.
Jailer 2 and Ranabaali are set to arrive in theatres a day apart, on October 15 and 16, respectively.
While Jailer 2 is originally in Tamil and Ranabaali in Telugu, both films are slated for release across South Indian languages as well as Hindi.
With anticipation building around both releases, their box-office performance will be closely watched.
Jailer 2 is the sequel to Nelson Dilipkumar’s 2023 film Jailer. Meanwhile, Rahul Sankrityan and Vijay previously collaborated on the 2018 film Taxiwaala.
