Battle for titles

Tollywood is obsessed about ‘star’ titles as some new actors from big film families are now being launched. It all started with Chiranjeevi, who called his nephew Varun Tej ‘Mega Prince’ and fans followed it.

Then Nagarjuna fans referred to  Akhil as ‘Prince Akhil’ when his film officially launched the other day. Since Mahesh Babu is also called ‘Prince’, discussions are on between fans and it’s become a major talking point at Film Nagar.

It all started with Mahesh Babu’s father Krishna, who was called  ‘Superstar’ of Telugu cinema. Then Chiranjeevi emerged on the  top and was called ‘Supreme Star’ in the beginning and later he became a ‘Mega Star’.

When his brother Pawan Kalyan entered films, he was called ‘Power Star’. When Chiru’s son Ram Charan made his debut, fans titled him as ‘Mega Power Star’.

Allu Arjun too tasted success and at the success party of his film Arya, Chiranjeevi named him the  ‘Stylish Star’. Another actor from the Chiru family Sai Dharam Tej also recently made his debut and he is called  ‘Power Star’. Varun Tej from the same family, is awaiting his debut film Mukunda. He is very handsome and Chiru has named him as ‘Mega Prince’.

On the other hand, Nagarjuna was called ‘Yuva Samrat’. But at the promotion of his film King he said that he is not young anymore, so he has given the title to his son Naga Chaitanya.

So fans started referring to  Nagarjuna as ‘King’. Now, his son Akhil is making his debut so the fans have gaven the title ‘Prince Akhil’.

Fans are arguing that King’s son becomes Prince. Fans feel that, when star kids are launched they want titles related to the father or grandfather.

Actor Krishnam Raju was titled ‘Rebel Star’. Now, his nephew Prabhas is called ‘Young Rebel Star’, because Prabhas is the successor to Krishnam Raju.

Earlier some of the cultural organisations would give  titles to the actors, after seeing their performances. Late actors Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao were conferred many titles and awards.

From the last generation onwards,  fans started to give titles to  stars who hail from big film families.

When contacted, P.R. Reddy, secretary of Nagarjuna Fans Association, says that the title for Akhil is not yet decided. “We are looking for a new title and we will announce it soon,” says Reddy.