Thanks, for the English lesson–Rahul. But you get the point.

But as for movies, politics etc.. Its a toss up and all states have the same or similar issues.

If you ask any Muslim from Hyderabad, they will never identify themselves as a “Telegu” or as a “Andra Pradeshi”. They will always say “Hyderabadi”. Also, I met the owners/workers of an Indian restaurant, and everyone there were from Hyderabad. They didn’t speak any Telegu, and they never referred to their place of origins as Andhra Pradesh. This is somewhat analgous to non-Marathi Mumbaikars identifying themselves as a “Mumbaikar” rather than a “Marathi”.

The Muslims of Hyderabad arrived around the 1700s, and their ancestors came from Afghanistan/NWFP via Northern India. This is why they speak Urdu, but they don’t speak (or make an attempt) Telegu. Heck, you’d probably offend Sania Mirza, Tabu, the Nawab of Hyderabad by referring to them as Andhra Pradeshis.

What can I say, my tastes, having origins in Gult-land, simply ‘strife’ harder for excellence than do those of those from Tamizh-land.

Oh Ratnam Saar, how much of a hack are thee? Let me count the ways. (I am not a fan).

At least you have Mani Ratnam.

Again, not that I personally care – apart from the fact that poor acting might compromise the quality of the movie, such as it is But it is at odds with this expressed pride in all things Tamil.

That’s funny, many of the ‘fair-skinned’ heroines in Telugu films are either northies or Tamilians (Trisha comes to mind). I know that at least in Telugu films there’s one woman who dubs for every single actress though, so yeah, it’s a sad state of affairs.

I personally think Tamilnadu is an order of magnitude worse than many other states though, MGR, Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha (nepotism too involved here) all became popular through movies, Vijayakanth is now doing well politically after rustling up a party, and so on. There was a huge clamor for Rajinikanth about 8 or 10 years ago, but he demurred and instead played kingmaker with dramatic speeches on television and thinly veiled attacks on Jayalalitha in his movies.

Though I’m not sure what’s to be ashamed of when it comes to more ‘voluptuous’ taste in heroines?

Sorry I wasn’t clear, I don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed of – taste is taste. I was using it as an example of something often used by people outside Tamilnadu to mock Tamilians, as a counterpoint to that list of wonderful things Tamilians are expected to be associated with. (and the specific point I wanted to make with “fair-skinned” was the preference for North Indian heroines, usually those who don’t make it in Bollywood, even if they are mediocre actors who can’t even speak the language)

This describes Telugus too– just look at NTR, Ramyakrishna, the story that was covered on SM about a man in AP who left his granddaughter by the roadside, and how YSR’s distant relatives suddenly struck gold once he became CM. Hell it describes all of India.

Though I’m not sure what’s to be ashamed of when it comes to more ‘voluptuous’ taste in heroines?