Vijay Deverakonda,  the Telugu superstar who is soon going to make his Hindi film
debut with Puri Jagannadh’s directorial multi-lingual film ‘Fighter’ that also
stars Ananya Panday, says that social media plays a huge role in making a
connect with audience, especially for the ones who don’t have any support
system in the film industry. “You don’t have a system to support you, you don’t
have people who will promote your film or talk about you, you need to do your
own shit,” he says.

In an interview with  Anupama Chopra’s Film Companion, the actor
spoke about how social media started off as a ‘survival technique’ for him.

“Left to me, I would not be
on social media at all. I’d just do movie promotions and not post anything. But
being on social media is a requirement to survive as an actor,” he says on why,
despite all the shares on social media, his relationships are off limits.

“You don’t have a system to
support you, you don’t have people who will promote your film or talk about
you, you need to do your own shit. I have to maintain a connect with my
audience. It started off as a survival technique for my career, to be able to
get the films I want. I want to restrict it to that, I don’t have any of the
apps on my phone. Some of my friends handle my social media and they’re like,
‘It’s been a month since you posted something, send something.’ And I’m like,
‘I don’t have any pictures, please take one,” he said.

 Giving the reference of social media rage down
south titled #BetheREALMAN that requires celebrities to do household work, and
post a video of the same on social media, Vijay says “even this ‘real man’
thing was something I would’ve never done.”

“I did it reluctantly
because it was an industry thing. My dear friend Sandeep Reddy Vanga was
jobless at home and out of boredom, decided to do the ‘real man’ challenge and
tag Rajamouli. It triggered a chain reaction and a senior director, Siva
Koratala, nominated me. It felt rude to not reply when someone’s taken your
name and he’s such an accomplished person. So then I was like, ‘Okay, now I
have to do this.’ I don’t wash the dishes at home, I don’t sweep the floor, I
cook sometimes and I play video games. It was very reluctantly done.I hate
these challenges,” he said in the interview.

Deverakonda’s  “Fighter” is produced by Karan Johar and the
film went on floors in January 2020.