Rishab Shetty, the self-proclaimed flagbearer of “authentic cinema,” seems to have forgotten one basic rule of promotion—respect your audience. At the recent Kantara: Chapter 1 pre-release event in Hyderabad, where Jr NTR made a special appearance despite recovering from an injury, Shetty decided to speak in Kannada. Yes, in Hyderabad. To a Telugu crowd. And no, people were not amused.
The internet has been buzzing ever since the clip went viral, and the backlash is loud and clear. Fans were expecting Shetty to at least acknowledge the Telugu audience in their own language, considering the kind of love the first Kantara received in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. But instead, he chose to ramble in Kannada, dismissing the crowd’s expectations entirely. Netizens have been quick to point out the hypocrisy—he spoke in Hindi during the Hindi promotions, Tamil at the Tamil event, and Kannada in Karnataka. But when it came to Hyderabad, where a majority of the audience only connects through Telugu, suddenly “mother tongue expression” became his excuse.
The irony? This is the same Rishab Shetty who keeps reminding everyone that cinema has no language barriers. Yet when given the opportunity to show inclusivity, he stuck to his bubble. Fans called it “arrogance disguised as authenticity,” and some went as far as to call him “tone-deaf” for ignoring the Telugu-speaking crowd.
Twitter trolls had a field day, with comments like: “If you can speak Hindi for Bollywood money, what stopped you from speaking Telugu for Telugu fans?”,“Rishab Shetty’s ego is bigger than Kantara’s success.”, “Kannada pride is fine, but don’t insult the audience that fills your pockets.”
Rishab might think he’s staying true to himself, but the Telugu audience saw it differently—they saw disrespect. For a film that’s hoping to cash in on pan-India success, this attitude feels less like cultural pride and more like promotional carelessness.
Rishab Shetty has once again proven that he doesn’t really care about his audience as much as he cares about projecting his “Kannada pride.” If he can bend for Bollywood and Tamil promotions, why suddenly play stubborn in Hyderabad? For someone chasing a pan-India label, he just alienated a huge section of viewers. And let’s be honest—without the Telugu crowd, Kantara: Chapter 1 might just struggle to roar beyond Karnataka.