In Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, a tight slap by the husband (Chiranjeevi) becomes the tipping point in his relationship with his wife (Nayanthara). He later justifies his act instead of condemning himself. The film's politics are problematic. "The film's gender politics, however, are problematic. Wives are shown as abusers of gender-sensitive laws, while abusive husbands are given a clean chit," we stated in our review. Likewise, in Ravi Teja's Bhartha Mahasayulaki Wignyapthi, the married male lead comes up with a bizarre 'rationale' to justify his fling with a woman (played by Ashika Ranganath).
The pro-male narratives of the two films have been called out by many netizens. "When cheating is wrong for one gender, how is it 'fun' when the other does it? If you can make a movie like Baby (Anand Deverakonda-Vaishnavi Chaitanya's movie) when the female cheats, why not something similar when the male does? Why turn it into comedy and normalize it? Why does Chiranjeevi's film justify the slap? Can’t he just say sorry? And somehow the woman is shown as the one in the wrong?" wrote Srikar Reddy, an X user.
Chiranjeevi's film is directed by Anil Ravipudi, while Ravi Teja's family entertainer is helmed by Kishore Tirumala.
