SKN reveals if his comment on ‘loving female actors who don't know Telugu’ was a dig at Vaishnavi Chaitanya

Producer SKN has worked with numerous Telugu-speaking female actors but the internet thinks his latest comment is about Baby actor Vaishnavi Chaitanya.

Producer Sreenivasa Kumar Naidu, known in the film industry as SKN, left movie buffs confused by the comments he made at the promotional event of Dragon. At a time when there’s a call for hiring more Telugu-speaking female actors, the producer stated otherwise, making people wonder if there’s bad blood between him and Vaishnavi Chaitanya. (Also Read: Mahesh Babu's daughter Sitara Ghattamaneni meets his Brahmotsavam co-star Avantika Vandanapu. See pic)

SKN had produced Vaishnavi Chaitanya's 2023 hit film Baby.

What did SKN say

Dragon is a Tamil film that is also releasing in Telugu. Welcoming one of the film’s female leads, Kayadu Lohar, to the Telugu film industry, he said, “Welcome to Telugu (film industry). We love female actors who don’t know Telugu more than those who do. We’ve learnt our lesson from encouraging those who know Telugu. So me and Sai Rajesh have decided to encourage girls who don’t know Telugu.”

While he made the comment in a lighter vein, the inclusion of director Sai in the statement made people wonder if he was talking about Vaishnavi. She is one of the few female actors in the industry of Telugu origin and had worked with SKN and Sai in the 2023 hit Baby, which was a turning point in her career.

When clips of the speech made way online, one person commented, “Indirect ga vaishnavi Chaitanya ne annada (Did he say that about Vaishnavi Chaitanya indirectly).” Another wrote, “Vaishnavi em chesindhi ila matladuthunna (What did Vaishnavi do for them to talk like this).” One commented, “Baby effect.” Others wondered what the context was behind him saying that.

SKN responds

When a journalist pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that SKN has worked with numerous Telugu-speaking female actors in his career and questioned why everyone thinks it’s about Vaishnavi, he re-tweeted the post and clarified his stance. He replied in Telugu, “Ha ha ha. These days people are more interested in controversy than entertainment. What to do?”

However, people in the comments were not buying it. One person commented, “Naaku and sai rajesh annadu. inka vaishnavi kakunda inkevar marry. (You said you and Sai Rajesh, who else but Vaishnavi?)” Another wrote, “Mari sagam sagam cheppatam kante complete ga cheppochuga anna maku ardham ayiddhi ga evaru elanti vallo ani (How will anyone understand unless you reveal it all?)”

SKN is known for producing films like Baby, Taxiwaala and Eerojullo. Vaishnavi has since acted in a horror film called Love Me and will soon star in Jack and An Unfinished Story, reuniting with her Baby co-star Anand Deverakonda. Dragon is directed by Ashwath Marimuthu and stars Pradeep Ranganathan, Anupama Parameshwaran and Kayadu. The film is releasing in theatres on February 21.