Did Vijay Deverakonda Demand 6 Vanity Vans 50 Assistants Team Dismisses Claims Complains

Vijay Deverakonda has been at the centre of a fabricated controversy this week, after fake screenshots designed to look like genuine news reports began circulating on X, claiming he had made unreasonable demands on the sets of his upcoming film, Ranabaali. However, his team clarified to SCREEN that they were fake, calling them part of a deliberate misinformation campaign.

The screenshots, made to resemble an article from the entertainment portal 123Telugu, carried a headline claiming Vijay had demanded 6 caravans and 50 assistants on the Ranabaali set, and that producers Mythri Movie Makers had been forced to approach the Producers Council to resolve the issue. The claims spread quickly once shared on social media.

Talking to SCREEN, a source from his team replied, “These claims have no basis whatsoever. We honestly can’t understand what is the origin of these screenshots, which sprung out of nowhere,”

123Telugu, the publication whose branding had been used in the fake screenshot, also issued its own clarification, stating that it had never published any such article and warning of legal action against those responsible for misusing its name.

This is not the first time Vijay has had to push back against fabricated stories. In 2020, the actor had launched a public campaign against what he called fake news and gossip websites after a similar report wrongly accused him of insulting people he was trying to help during the COVID-19 lockdown, a controversy that drew support at the time from Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu and several others in the industry.

Ranabaali, directed by Shyam Singha Roy filmmaker Rahul Sankrityan, marks Vijay’s on screen reunion with his wife Rashmika Mandanna, following their earlier successes Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade. The couple, who kept their relationship largely private for years, got engaged in Hyderabad last October and married earlier this year in the presence of family and close friends. The period action drama is currently slated for a theatrical release on September 11, with the controversy around the fake reports doing little, so far, to slow down anticipation for the film.