Actor Vijay Deverakonda, whose film Kingdom is set to release on July 31, recently opened up about the reasons behind dropping his well-known "The" tag from his name.
The Liger star revealed that the overwhelming public backlash he faced was the main reason for abandoning the title "The Vijay Deverakonda," which he used on social media around 2022.
“No one else has faced this kind of backlash,” he said, pointing out that others in the industry — regardless of age or experience — use titles like “Universal Star” or “People’s Star” without criticism.
He hinted that his outsider status in the film industry was a likely reason for the negativity.
In the same interview, the Geetha Govindam actor spoke about the industry's power dynamics, admitting he doesn’t enjoy the influence that some of his peers — those from film families — do.
He pointed out that another actor, with similar experience, can have scripts rewritten for months by multiple writers, thanks to his celebrity father.
While he didn’t name anyone, Vijay’s remarks clearly targeted the privileges enjoyed by "nepo kids."
