During the promotional campaign for his upcoming film HIT: The Third Case, actor Nani shared some candid details about a WhatsApp group involving several prominent Telugu film stars, including Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, and Rana Daggubati. Nani revealed that he predominantly keeps the group ‘muted’ due to the increase in spam messages and a decrease in activity.
The group, which was initially formed around a decade ago by actress Manchu Lakshmi, gained widespread attention when she shared screenshots of it on social media. Nani mentioned that while the group was once highly active, it is no longer as vibrant.
“There is a WhatsApp group with Telugu actors. But I don’t think it’s as active now. It might still exist, but I don’t check it much. When it was first started, it was quite active. Now, that’s not the case. Many actors have changed their phone numbers, and those who used to post have slowed down. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but interest has naturally declined,” said Nani.
He further explained, “We created the group so that we could stay in touch. We used to discuss jokes, various topics, and share our film trailers and social media posts. It was just a regular friends’ group, not meant for grand motivations like ‘Let’s save the country’ or ‘Let’s fight for a cause.’ We created it to promote each other’s films and encourage one another. But it’s not as active as it used to be, say, ten years ago.”
Nani also noted that spam messages have increased over the years, leading him to mute the group. “Compared to earlier, there are a lot more spam messages now. That’s why, for me, the group is mostly muted. There are so many actors in the group, and when one person starts talking about something, the discussion just goes off in all directions. We all have work to do. Whenever I open my phone, I see 60-70 unread messages. The next day, it’s over 100. If I don’t check them, I’m not even part of the conversation,” he added with a laugh.
HIT: The Third Case, directed by Sailesh Kolanu, is scheduled for release on May 1, with Sree Nidhi Shetty playing the female lead.