Allu Sirish Fires Back at Jewellery Trolls

Actor Allu Sirish recently addressed the trolling he faced for wearing jewellery during his wedding celebrations with Nayanika Reddy.

The actor said his choice was deliberate and aimed at challenging stereotypes surrounding gender norms.

During his pre-wedding and wedding ceremonies, Sirish wore diamond and gold jewellery and even applied mehendi with Nayanika’s name.

On the wedding day, he also sported the traditional symbols of Lord Balaji — namam, shanku and chakra.

Responding to the criticism, Sirish said gender norms are a relatively new concept.

“In ancient times, people were more gender-fluid. Men also wore jewellery, and until about a hundred years ago, there was no separate perfume for men and women. Now everything is divided into blue for boys and pink for girls,” he said, adding that he wanted to challenge such perceptions.

He revealed that some people around him questioned his decision.

“They asked me, ‘Enduku, ipudu avasarama haralu veskovadam?’ (Do you really need to wear a necklace now?). I told them, ‘Urukondi. Manam kuda try cheyyakapote inkevaru chestaru. Ilage untundi inko iravai ellu kuda.’ (Let it be. If we don’t try it, nobody will. Things will remain the same even after 20 years),” he explained.

Sirish further said that men generally get limited opportunities to experiment with fashion.

“Men usually don’t get to experiment much with clothing, mostly only with accessories. I don’t need others to decide what is masculine or feminine. I will decide what I can wear,” he added.

Reacting to a meme suggesting he might wear a vaddanam (gold waist belt) for the wedding, Sirish responded with humour.

“Our Telugu memers are too funny! Vaddanam is worn only by women, but Indian maharajas and Mughals used to wear chokers,” he said.

He concluded by saying that the idea of chokers being only for women is largely a Western perception and that it is time to embrace India’s traditional jewellery styles without rigid gender boundaries.