Parasuram Petla’s Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur-starrer The Family Star released in theatres on April 5 and received a lukewarm response. While the film had quite a few cringe-worthy scenes, one in particular sees Vijay’s character, Govardhan, utter a problematic line. After the film was released on Prime Video on April 26, here’s how netizens reacted.

The scene in question

In a scene, a goon played by Ravi Babu comes to Govardhan’s house and propositions his sister-in-law in return for the money her husband owes him. While this scene feels straight out of an old-school film, Govardhan uses this opportunity to issue a threat in return.

Just a few seconds after a spiel on how women need to be respected, as he beats up goons in the presence of his whole family (including children), he issues a thinly veiled warning against the women in Ravi’s family. It is this scene that leaves the antagonist and the audience shocked.

Vijay received flak

As soon as The Family Star was released on OTT, viewers took to X (formerly Twitter) to call out Vijay for agreeing to utter the line and Parasuram for penning it (he takes credit for the story, screenplay, dialogues and direction).

One X user shared Vijay's screenshots, sarcastically writing, “And the movie's name is Family Star.” Another wondered if they understood the line correctly, “You'll find many reasons not to watch this irritating Family Star. But this reason tops my list! Few people I met said that they will react the same way! Naaku Wrong ga Ardamaindha or Meeku anthena! Cheppandi (Did I understand the dialogue wrong)?”

Another summed up the scene, also sharing screenshots of the line, writing, “In Family Star, the 'hero' bashes up the goons of a muscleman who preyed upon the women of his family. And then, proceeds to give a rape threat to the women of goon's family. That's all I have to say.”

One viewer hoped the audience won’t justify the line, writing, “I am hoping Telugu fans are not defending this with their usual 'cinema ni cinema la choodandi' (watch a movie as a movie) logic.” Another simply wrote, “I want Vijay Devarakonda to never make a movie again,” sharing the video clip of the scene. Some even went as far ahead as calling the actor a ‘disgrace’ to the film industry.

Vijay on misogyny

Talking to Film Companion South in 2019, Vijay once questioned why people who ‘criticise’ Arjun Reddy somehow don’t ‘laud’ him for starring in Dear Comrade. He said, “I don’t know misogyny; it’s not there around me. I might be biased because I don’t know the extent of it in households. But if you corner me for being neutral and take my case, I can’t stay calm.”

He added, “The women and men who are having an issue with Arjun Reddy, are they applauding me for Dear Comrade? If we’re fighting for women’s rights, you should sit there and congratulate me for Dear Comrade and Pelli Choopulu. But no one wants to talk about it. It just becomes like propaganda.”

TeluguCinema

Read Also: cop uncle theatrical release – the dhyan sreenivasan-starrer will debut on big screen on this date