- Director Siddharth Anand faced backlash after calling recent Telugu films flops
- Telugu fans highlighted hits like Kalki 2898 AD and Devara in response
- Anand was criticized for relying heavily on Hollywood ideas in his films
Director Siddharth Anand has landed in trouble after his controversial comment about Telugu films went viral. The filmmaker reacted to a post – now deleted – labelling several recent films featuring NTR Jr, Pawan Kalyan, Vijay Deverakonda, Ram Charan, Prabhas, Mahesh Babu and Nandamuri Balakrishna as flops.
The fans of Telugu cinema did not take kindly to the comment and pointed out that Kalki 2898 AD and Devara had performed well at the box office. Others turned the criticism back on Anand by bringing up the theatrical performance of his own films. Some users also accused him of depending too much on Hollywood ideas.
The controversy started when an X user posted a list of recent films, including Devara, They Call Him OG, Kingdom, Peddi, The Raja Saab, Guntur Kaaram and Daaku Maharaj. The individual called all these films flops in the post. Siddharth Anand then responded with “Oops", which led to strong responses from Telugu fans.
An individual stated, “Your movies look like a combination of TV commercial advertisements.”
haa haa???? , your movies look like a combination of TV commercial advertisements????????????
— Sankarsh (@Sankarsh970) August 20, 2026
Another mentioned, “Devara was a hit, Peddi was average. Hanuman blockbuster. Kalki 2898 AD blockbuster. Saripodhaa Sanivaaram superhit. Learn to make proper films first and have some grounding instead of saying absolute bakwas like 90% of people have not flown, hence Fighter was not a hit.”
One more added, “You ain't Aditya Dhar.”
Bro you are directing king
— mufasaa (@DHFM4L) August 20, 2026
Calm down
You ain't Aditya Dhar
Siddharth Anand is preparing for his next big directorial project, King, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. The film is scheduled to release in theatres on December 24.