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Yes, there are actresses that speak Telugu, and no, you are not seeing them in Telugu films
Like most brown girls growing up, I adored the grandeur of Bollywood films, but the routine stories of Telugu films felt homelier—and I didn’t need subtitles.
Once quarantine began, my mom and I made a firm decision to use our indefinite lockdown to watch as many Telugu movies together as possible. Like most brown girls growing up, I adored the grandeur of Bollywood films, but the routine stories of Telugu films felt homelier—and I didn’t need subtitles.
Expectedly, my recent binging has left me starry-eyed over Allu Arjun and Vijay Devarkonda. However, it’s also left me frustrated and muttering over the fact that the overwhelming majority of the female leads in Telugu movies can’t actually speak Telugu.
It seems paradoxical that there are roughly 40 million Telugu-speaking women across the world, and seeing one as a lead on the big screen is as rare as Mahesh Babu playing a character accurate to his age. Of course, not all 40 million are interested in acting, but I’m sure a good chunk are discouraged when they seldom ever see themselves represented.
A portion of the blame falls on the general public. People whole-heartedly embrace and idolize native Telugu actors like Prabhas and Ram Charan for their impressive monologues and powerful characters.
Native Telugu actresses like Anjali and Rithu Varma, while recognized, aren’t received with the same enthusiasm, and their stints in the industry are also much shorter than their male counterparts. Part of this is just the cloud of sexism that looms over the film industry (a topic for another day). However, it’s also become pretty apparent that the leading female actresses in Telugu films are fair-skinned girls that came in with little to no knowledge of the language. Some manage to stay in the industry for nearly a decade, yet their dubbing artist’s voice is more recognizable than their own.
It’s almost as if broken Telugu and an out-of-Andhra/Telangana modeling background are prerequisites to be a star in the industry. This leaves young Telugu women—the supposed subjects of these movies—with few chances to make it in the door, let alone make it big.
And that brings me to where the rest of the blame falls: on the industry itself!
Well-respected directors ought to do Andhra and Telangana women some justice and put them on screen. These industry giants have the platform to promote positive change—not only through their movie plots but also through their casting choices.
So my advice to the common Telugu movie goer and to the industry big dogs: show the Anjalis and Rithu Varmas of the world some love. Telugu women deserve to be heard AND seen, and I demand it.
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