Virender Sehwag watches Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, Prabhas films after retirement, jokes he has ‘nothing to do’

At an event in Hyderabad, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag spoke about his fondness for films featuring Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun and Prabhas.

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was recently in Hyderabad to attend the launch of the Tollywood Pro League (TPL), a cricket and entertainment league for the Telugu film industry. While there, he chatted with hosts Vindhya Vishaka and Nikhil Vijayendra Simha about his love for South Indian films, particularly those of Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, and Prabhas. (Also Read: Mahesh Babu's Kalaripayattu trainer for Varanasi spills the beans about the star, reveals why he trained in martial arts)

Virender Sehwag on watching Telugu cinema after retirement

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag called Mahesh Babu his favourite Telugu actor. (PTI)

Sehwag was asked if he watched any South Indian films, and he replied, “I am a big fan of South Indian movies. There are so many (favourite films), but I watch them in Hindi because I can’t understand Tamil or Telugu. I remember the dialogue ‘saala jhukega nahi (I won’t back down)’ from Pushpa.” He even recreated the Pushpa dialogue in Telugu with Nikhil’s help.

In 2015, Sehwag announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and IPL. And he joked that after that, he had ‘nothing to do’ but watch Mahesh, Arjun and Prabhas’ films. “My favourite Telugu hero is Mahesh Babu. I also like Allu Arjun, Prabhas…I watched Baahubali a couple of times. Now I’m happily retired, na? So, I have nothing to do,” said the former cricket player.

Mahesh last starred in Trivikram Srinivas’ Guntur Kaaram, which was released for 2024 Sankranthi. The film received lukewarm reviews and collected ₹180.5 crore worldwide. He is now shooting for SS Rajamouli’s highly anticipated film, Varanasi, starring Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran.

Arjun last starred in Sukumar’s hit films Pushpa: The Rise (2021) and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024). The latter is the highest-grossing Telugu film and one of the highest-grossing films in Indian cinema. He is now shooting for Atlee’s next with Deepika Padukone.

Prabhas last starred in Nag Ashwin’s 2024 film Kalki 2898 AD, which collected a whopping ₹1042.25 crore worldwide and is one of the highest-grossing films in India. He will soon star in Maruthi’s The Raja Saab, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit, and Hanu Raghavapudi’s Fauzi.