Last week, I received a frantic text from a friend who is a stand-up comedian. It was about his colleague Anudeep Katikala, who was in Prayagraj at the time. Two cops from Andhra Pradesh had turned up there, where he was staying with his parents, detained him, and then took him all the way back to AP’s Kakinada district to formally arrest him.
His crime? A couple of jokes on Tollywood star and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who also heads the Jana Sena Party (JSP). An FIR was filed against Anudeep on the basis of a complaint by a JSP worker over jokes he cracked on Kalyan and his relative Ram Charan, also an actor.
Two days later, another comedian, Rafiq Muhammad, who is from Vizag in AP, was also arrested based on an FIR registered against him in Andhra’s Machilipatnam. In his case too, the cops turned up at his residence and escorted him away to arrest him.
A friend of his, who was updating reporters on the case, told me that JSP workers were already waiting for Rafiq and had surrounded him, threatened him, and left only when he agreed to post “positive” content about Pawan Kalyan. Rafiq, like Anudeep, had cracked jokes on politicians and the Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM.
In Rafiq’s case, one could argue that his jokes were in poor taste, alluding to Kalyan’s Russian spouse, among other things. Anudeep, however, simply said that people can learn from Kalyan as his ex-wives have not accused him of abuse (like it’s a good thing). Either way, that is the whole point of stand-up comedy. You don’t take offence at everything.
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Toxic Tollywood fandom
This should not have happened to begin with, but am I surprised? No. What is more surprising to me is that the arrests did not cause the outrage they should have, and the silence of Telugu society over them.
Of course, a handful of the comedians’ colleagues stood in support, but I have largely not seen people take a strong stand against the arrests. It is because, to some extent, many feel these arrests were valid.
To register an FIR is one thing, but to send cops so far away, and to take someone to another district, is nothing but a misuse of power.
“The police showed Anudeep’s arrest to the judge as if he himself had appeared based on a notice. But that was not the case and because his lawyers were good, the police was not able to get remand,” a friend of his told me about the entire ordeal.
Tollywood fandom is toxic, and that is also what Anudeep was trying to talk about in his sets. He was proved right. I have seen videos of Pawan Kalyan fans verbally abusing and almost thrashing moviegoers for critical reviews in the past. While it may seem amusing from a distance, it is actually very scary, because it sends out a message that one is safe only as long as one is saying good things.
In fact, I have rarely seen anyone come out in support of women from Tollywood the way they do for the men. I doubt that is going to change anytime soon. Moreover, let’s not forget that one can be well-known and influential, and still face the ire of Tollywood fans, especially those of Pawan Kalyan.
The late movie critic Kathi Mahesh was trolled mercilessly in 2017 by Kalyan’s fans for criticising his film Katamarayudu. He called it sexist, and a “badly written film”. He even received threats back then. My guess is that, had the TDP and JSP been in power in AP, he would also have been arrested or faced FIRs.
This entire episode is also important for understanding that the South is not better or worse, but much the same as the rest of India when it comes to freedom of speech and tolerance. What it also shows is how Tollywood is so male-centred that a few jokes on an actor can ruin someone’s life.
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Perils of thin-skinned power
It is unacceptable in a democracy that power is abused to drag people through legal cases like this, where the judicial process itself becomes the punishment.
The whole point of Anudeep and Rafiq’s arrests was to punish them by getting them jailed for a day or two. Luckily, that did not happen, or it would have ruined their lives, socially and financially. As it is, hiring lawyers and going through this process is a financial burden as well.
Comedians don’t tell us anything new. They just point out things that society does not accept, or does not want to accept. I remember reading, until a few years ago, articles on TDP general secretary and AP IT minister Nara Lokesh being called “Pappu”. So if someone jokes about that again, will they be sent to jail?
Anudeep had, in fact, apologised publicly a day earlier, but he still faces an FIR and was taken into custody. Fortunately, the cops in these cases were just doing what they were told and did not misbehave in any way. They were rather sympathetic, I’ve been told.
Even they cannot help it when they receive orders from the top. It would do Andhra Pradesh good if resources were spent on better things, especially since it is still building its new capital. I am sure our seasoned leaders have skin that is thick enough to bear a few jokes.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist whose work primarily focuses on politics, history and culture. He posts on X @YunusLasania. Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)