Actor Sobhita Dhulipala recently commented on a social media influencer’s post, who spoke about how people from the Telugu community don’t offer each other any support. Sobhita agreed with the influencer’s thoughts and said that she left her home state at the age of 16 because she found the environment around her “deeply resistant and judgemental” toward anyone who dared to pursue unconventional ambitions.

The comments were made in the form of an Instagram reply to a video posted by Hyderabad-based influencer Ahalya, who had argued that Telugu people are among the least supportive communities when it comes to backing their own people. In her video, Ahalya said that when someone from the community starts a new business, opens a restaurant or tries something different, the instinct is not to ask how they can help but to question what is so special about it. She pointed out that while Telugu people take pride in their films, culture and heritage, they rarely extend that pride to individuals within the community who are trying to build something new.

Sobhita responded with a “100” emoji, and then added her own experience to the conversation. “I packed my bags and left for Mumbai at age 16, with no guarantee of making it, but I took my chance because it was clear to me that the environment here felt deeply resistant and judgemental of anyone who dares to dream, especially if you’re an outsider to whichever field you want to enter,” she wrote. “Double dose if you’re a woman.”

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She added that she hoped things had changed since she left. “Well, this was a while ago and I do hope things are different now. Here’s wishing everyone in our community can grow wings, and a spine,” she wrote.

 

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A post shared by Ahalya (@storiesofsb)

Sobhita Dhulipala’s comment

Who is Sobhita Dhulipala?

Born in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh, to Venugopala Rao, a Merchant Navy engineer, and Santha Kamakshi, a primary school teacher, Sobhita Dhulipala grew up in Visakhapatnam. At 16, she moved to Mumbai and soon after, started participating in beauty pageants.

Her debut came in 2016 with Anurag Kashyap’s Raman Raghav 2.0, a dark, violent thriller starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal. She followed it with Goodachari in Telugu, the acclaimed Malayalam drama Moothon directed by Geetu Mohandas, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan franchise and the Amazon series Made in Heaven, which became one of the most discussed Indian original shows globally.

In 2022, she began dating actor Naga Chaitanya. The couple married in December 2024 in a high-profile ceremony in Hyderabad.