It's Not Bollywood, It's Tollywood Now
Nitesh Tiwari recently attended an event in Hyderabad where he spoke about his connection with Telugu cinema.
By: Tupaki Desk | 20 Oct 2026 10:25 AM ISTTelugu cinema is becoming popular across the world. Earlier Bollywood films had a strong reach among audiences in India and other countries. But now Telugu movies are also gaining worldwide attention. Most of the people from other film industries are watching and appreciating Telugu films. Even Bollywood directors are praising Telugu filmmakers for their stories and filmmaking skills. The success of SS Rajamouli's Baahubali played a major role in bringing Telugu cinema to a wider audience. Now, Ramayana director Nitesh Tiwari has shared his love for Telugu films.
Nitesh Tiwari recently attended an event in Hyderabad where he spoke about his connection with Telugu cinema. He said that his love for Telugu movies started during his school days after watching Ram Gopal Varma's Shiva.
The director said he was impressed by Nagarjuna's acting, Amala's screen presence and Raghuvaran's performance as the villain. At that time, he did not know who had directed the film. Later he came to know about Ram Gopal Varma and started watching more Telugu movies.
Nitesh also spoke about Chiranjeevi's film Pratibandh. He said the movie taught him that language does not matter when a film has strong emotions. A good story can connect with people even if they do not understand the language.
Nitesh's interest in Telugu cinema continued during his college days. He said his roommate who was from Hyderabad, introduced him to more Telugu films. One of the movies he loved was Mani Ratnam's romantic film Geethanjali. He added that he also liked its songs and remembered them for many years.
At the Hyderabad event, Nitesh surprised everyone by singing a few lines from the popular song "Nandi Konda Vagullona." The audience was happy to see a Bollywood director singing a Telugu song with so much interest.
He said that he also watched popular Telugu movies like Eega, Magadheera and Baahubali.
Nitesh Tiwari praised several Telugu directors, including SS Rajamouli, Sukumar, Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Nag Ashwin. He said Telugu cinema has many talented directors who know how to impress audiences through their films.
The success of Baahubali helped Telugu cinema reach people across the country and beyond. Many Telugu films released after that also received attention from audiences in different languages. Now everyone talking high about Tollywood is making Telugu audience super happy.
