Telugu movie culture needs rectification

Telugu movies make me cringe and men specifically aren’t setting good role models

Telugu movies make me cringe (I am Telugu)

If you have ever seen a popular Telugu movie with a popular Telugu actors: Allu Arjun, Devarakonda, Ravi Teja etc. You will always see that the Female lead has no other purpose except playing the love interest of the male lead. The female leads in these movies are often white skinned though the male leads aren't necessarily fair themselves. The story can almost always function without the female lead or the romance montage in these movies. The depiction of the female characters are almost always are portrayed as mothers, love interests or if they were portrayed in positions of power, they would almost be subordinates to the men or be masculinized. Don't get me started on item songs, as we know why they are problematic.

Telugu movies also have a trend of romanticizing stalking, staring and straight up harassing the female characters by just playing some positive music. The most problematic thing about these movies are that these big name Telugu actors are very idolized by young men. Literally fights happen over who is the best hero. So, these young men who don't know any better because nobody corrects them would portray this behaviour.

So, as a woman these movies are very hard for me to watch. I am sure there are Telugu movies which are amazing and have strong female leads. I really like the older movies which actually had a good storyline, but there are these few things about this industry that makes me cringe and I would never recommend these movies for others.

Although I would love to mention one actress in particular who plays strong and meaningful female character: Ritu Verma. She is a good actress and the roles she takes up are interesting.