Before the COVID-19 pandemic, actress Kalyani Priyadarshan had an unsuccessful stint in Telugu. Akhil's Hello and Sharwanand's Ranarangam failed her. Sai Dharam Tej's Chitralahari was a decent performer. Since the pandemic, Kalyani has mostly done only Malayalam and Tamil movies.
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra is her biggest hit at the box office. With her turning heads, many want her to be brought back to Tollywood. Critical sections of the audience opine that Kalyani shouldn't act in Telugu, where she will end up getting cast in routine, glamorous, tokenistic roles. "She will get pinched in her butt or navel by an aged uncle. She will get to play flowerpot roles in a series of hero elevation films. She will get the camera to stare lustily at her bosom," wrote Pray Rona.
Kalyani, however, has always chosen not to do problematic roles in any language. The three Telugu films she did portrayed her decently. "Not in one Telugu movie was there any regressive scene. Tollywood always loved her, but it was Mollywood fans who trolled her, calling her a nepo kid with zero expressions and all that. Her very debut was in Telugu," a movie buff added.
