A tweet by Telugu actor and leading television presenter Anasuya Bharadwaj, which was purportedly an indirect reference to actor Vijay Deverakonda, has unleashed the wrath of social media trolls on her since Friday. The tweet that translates to “If someone abuses a mother, some time or the other, it will come back” was posted along with the hashtags #NotHappyOnsomeonesSadness but #FaithRestored, and was reportedly made in the context of the lukewarm (read, disastrous) theatre response to Vijay’s latest release Liger on Thursday, August 25.
Soon after, Anasuya began to be trolled by the actor’s fans on Twitter, who resorted to ageshaming the popular anchor by repeatedly referring to her as ‘aunty’. Anasuya, meanwhile, responded in another tweet that she would file a complaint against whoever calls her ‘aunty’, denouncing the age-shaming by the trolls.
Aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty aunty auntyAunty https://t.co/GK9EMZGsSl
— Arjun Kumar (@arjunAAkumar) August 26, 2022
Aunty rasipettuko ,his comeback will be stronger @TheDeverakonda , Stay strong Star #Liger https://t.co/q3K0ZJdrwC
— kinneresh moduga (@kinnereshnaidu) August 25, 2022
In another tweet, she wrote, “Here by..taking a screenshot of every account abusing me..age shaming me by calling “Aunty”..involving my family into this and I will file a case and take it to a point where you will regret getting to me without any legit reason..this is my final warning.. (sic)” Since then, the hashtag #aunty has appeared in about 53k tweets and has been trending on Twitter.
I am definitely not an aunty to any of you that are not related to me.. 25+ ayyi pillalu unte aunty entandi.. just because its your comfort doesn’t mean its right.. mari magavaallaki adey vartistunda andi?? Ante mari industry lo 25+ unnavaallandatini alage pilavacha?? https://t.co/71wv0IGrBU
— Anasuya Bharadwaj (@anusuyakhasba) August 26, 2022
May be.. may be not.. but I will atleast be proud of myself for not putting up with what everyone normalises! I will fight till I make this place amicable to have opinions.. have discussions..
— Anasuya Bharadwaj (@anusuyakhasba) August 27, 2022
NO BULLYING
NO SLUT SHAMING
NO HARASSMENT #SayNOtoOnlineAbuse #StopAgeShaming https://t.co/4zbWAJyyov
Hmm.. #SayNOtoOnlineAbuse #StopCyberBullying
— Anasuya Bharadwaj (@anusuyakhasba) August 27, 2022
Chaala lokuva kadandi meeku nenante.. mee chelli no.. leka meeku pellai.. mee bhaarya leda chelli per day cost enta ? Adey per day office lo.. ani adigite encheptaru?? https://t.co/emqFFkEg9w
This is not the first time Anasuya is becoming the target of Vijay’s fans on social media. She had previously criticised Vijay for uttering a misogynistic abuse with the term ‘mother’ in it, during the movie promotions for Arjun Reddy in 2017. Since then, the TV show host has been constantly trolled by the actor's fans.
Anasuya earlier used to host an ETV comedy show called Jabardasth, which was known for its misogynistic content. After leaving the show, she has appeared in other special TV shows, beside acting in movies including Rangasthalam and Pushpa: The Rise.
Liger, directed by Puri Jagannadh with Ananya Panday as the leading lady, was released in both Telugu and Hindi as a pan-India project, but has been receiving disastrous word of mouth since its release.