In the last couple of days, Movie Artistes Association (MAA) secretary Jeevitha Rajasehar has been meeting directors association, producers association and others, along with her colleagues, to seek more roles for MAA registered Telugu actors/actresses in Telugu films.

The demand sounds legitimate as there is a feeling in Tollywood that talented Telugu heroines, character artists are not getting huge chances, while those imported from other tinsel towns are walking away with a larger pie of the cake. That coming from Jeevitha’s mouth, however, sounds like an irony, as she herself never gave chances to Telugu heroines and popular character artists in their production ventures.

Take the recent films of Rajasekhar including Garudavega and Kalki, which have Telugu artistes in minor roles but the major villain roles go to the likes of Kishore (Kannada) and Asuthosh Rana (Mumbai). At the same time, the main female leads are also roped in from other states only. If one could follow what they preach, then others will consider following it. Or if they are making a demand just that they are in a ‘position’, then it is a cliche.

On a bigger perspective, when Telugu films are being taken to Bollywood and getting released on a larger scale up-north, doesn’t the boundaries are getting blurred? Jeevitha’s demand for roping in local talents for Telugu movies sounds like YS Jagan’s demand to give 70% jobs to locals. In the recently concluded election, Jeevitha and her husband supported Jagan.

Creative industries should honour talents but not these native feelings. Everyone gets employed when they have right talents, and when they project it in a right way.