Vijay Deverakonda hits back at trolls for song from Family Star; Mrunal Thakur refuses to accept ‘lucky’ tag

Family Star actors Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur promoted their upcoming film at a press meet in Hyderabad. Excerpts from their conversation.

Actors Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur promoted their upcoming film, Family Star, at a press meet in Hyderabad. Directed by Parasuram Petla, the family drama will be released in theatres on April 5. In a candid conversation, the actors opened up about their film, reacted to trolls and more. (Also Read: Chiranjeevi, Vijay Deverakonda get honest about facing humiliation, being ‘middle class’)

Mrunal Thakur and Vijay Deverakonda all smiles at Family Star press meet

‘We aren’t that stupid’

After the song Kalyani Vaccha Vacchaa, composed by Gopi Sundar was released, many netizens trolled the song for featuring lavish visuals in a story about middle-class lives. When a reporter asked the same question, Vijay snapped back, saying, “I don’t understand, are people genuinely confused or are they just looking to troll us?”

He also pointed out that lavish dream sequences are not new in Indian cinema. “We have all grown up seeing lavish dream sequences in films. No one here is stupid enough to make a film where a hero asks the heroine to pay money for petrol (referring to a dialogue in the trailer) but has a lavish wedding,” he said, adding, “But even then, so what if he is middle class? Couldn’t he have done better for himself through the story? Let’s watch the film before jumping to conclusions.”

Producer Dil Raju also pointed out that he saw trolling online about Vijay’s character, Govind, wearing Birkenstock sandals. He brushed it aside, stating that they could’ve just been fake. “You can easily find dupes of everything designer for cheap now,” he rationalised.

‘I don’t want to be called lucky’

Since Mrunal debuted in Telugu cinema with the 2022 film Sita Ramam, directed by Hanu Raghavapudi, she has been called ‘lucky.’ The sentiment deepened with Souryuv’s Hi Nanna, which also became a hit last year. However, Mrunal made it clear at the press meet that she doesn’t like being called lucky.

When asked by a reporter how she feels to be dubbed lucky, Mrunal replied, “That word is very temporary, and I don’t like it. Acting in films isn’t just my job, it’s my passion. I only want to say yes to roles that let me live them. When I was a child, I wanted to be a princess. When I got the role (in Sita Ramam), I felt like I had prepared for it all my life.”

She also made it clear that while offers in Telugu have come her way, she will only do films where her character is crucial to the film. “I will only do stories I resonate with. I want to be known by my characters rather than as Mrunal. I want to let my work speak. If my character isn’t integral to the film, I won’t do it. I said yes to playing Sita, Yashna (Hi Nanna) and Indu (Family Star) because the film doesn’t work without them in it,” she added.

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