Vijay Deverakonda removes 'The' tag after massive trolling: My name is enough

India Today

08-07-2025

Vijay Deverakonda, in a recent interview, opened up about adding 'The' as a tag to his name and the decision to now chop it off after facing severe backlash. The actor was at the receiving end of trolling when he added 'The' tag to his name during the release of 'Liger' in 2022. The film bombed at the box office and, adding to worries, Deverakonda was massively trolled for adding the tag to his name.advertisementSpeaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, he explained how he is the only person to have faced resistance for his tag in the industry. "There was a crazy amount of backlash because 'The' was added to my name. Interestingly, no other name and no other person would have faced that sort of backlash. You can have any tag - from universal star to people star - anything. And people who are older, younger and those who debuted before me, everyone has a tagline. I was probably the one guy without a tagline. Nobody gets backlash."He recalled that in 2022, people in his team asked him to add a tag to his name. "I was asked by my team around the time of 'Liger'. I resisted this for a while, but people started coining their own terms. I do not want a tag and want to be known by name."
He then cited media articles where he was called by different names and how everything was limiting him. "When they write articles, the press, sometimes, likes to call me 'Southern Sensation', 'Rowdy boy', 'Rowdy Star' and different variants. I don't know how they pick these things. I am not 'Southern Sensation', I am of India. I want to be known, at least, by India, someday. And I felt everything was limiting. I want to be known as Vijay Deverakonda," he recalled.Explaining how he and his team narrowed it down to 'The', he said, "I thought, if you do need a tag - The is enough. But, people went, 'how can you put The?."He then talked about how he has decided not to add any tags to his name and wanted to be known as Vijay Deverakonda. "But, the whole point of 'The' is that I don't want a tag and if 'The' is a problem, then I don't want it. If you don't want, I don't either. I told my team to chop it off and Vijay Deverakonda is enough - it is what I want to be known by. I want that name to be remembered - nothing more, nothing less," he remarked.advertisementVijay Deverakonda also added that he gave instructions to his team to chop off the tag from his name. "From my side, I've asked to edit out 'The'. But, not much is in my control. Actually, I don't even want my name on these things. My face is on the poster. I've asked my teams not to even add my name. I feel like I want people to know Suri (his character in 'Kingdom') and get into his life. I don't want people to know Vijay Deverakonda, if I could have it that way."Vijay Deverakonda will be seen next in 'Kingdom', which will hit theatres on July 31. The film is directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri of 'Jersey' fame.- EndsMust Watch