Who Is Anudeep Katikala? IITian-Turned-Comedian Faces Backlash For Jokes On Tollywood Stars Pawan Kalyan, Ram Charan, Jr NTR And More

Stand-Up comedian Anudeep Katikala's jokes on Tollywood stars Pawan Kalyan, Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Mahesh Babu and Nandamuri Balakrishna have courted controversy. Fans of these stars are circulating Anudeep's clips widely, trolling him brutally and demanding an unconditional apology from him.

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The controversy snowballed when fans discovered that Anudeep was eliciting laughter at the expense of the stars' personal life. At one instance, he commented on Pawan Kalyan's divorce and his second marriage. He also mentioned Chiranjeevi's niece Niharika Konidela in his set, making remarks about her short-lived marriage to Chaitanya Jonnalagadda.

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Anudeep also reportedly compared the Ram Charan’s financial standing against his wife, Upasana Kamineni, which didn’t go down well with fans. He also made references to Nandamuri Balakrishna and Jr NTR, which only multiplied the backlash. In a short span of time, Anudeep's clips, both old and new, spread across social media and negative reactions started pouring in from fans of these celebs, who demanded accountability.

Who is Anudeep Katikala?

Anudeep Katikala is a Hyderabad based comedian. He switched lanes in his career. After working at an e-learning platform as an Associate Product Manager for around two years, he switched full time to stand-up comedy. Anudeep did his undergraduate course in engineering from IIT Bombay. In 2023, he ventured into stand-up comedy, hosting small shows at venues, alongside other up and coming comics. Anudeep also hosted regular open mics in Hyderabad, called Telugu Stand Up Comedy Show. It provided a platform to aspiring comics and gave them an audience.

This is also the time when Anudeep started to build his social media presence, posting reels and funny moments from his shows. A look at the thumbnails suggest that Tollywood stars and their professional and personal lives have been a constant theme in his jokes.

Silly South Comedy Club

Anudeep is also the founder of the Silly South Comedy Club, a collective of Telugu stand-up comedians. While he flourished, doing regular shows in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, he also made a special The Tollywood Roast Show. "We’re going all out on Tollywood & We promise to spare none (sic)," Anudeep's brief about the roast show read. It is only now that his jokes on popular Telugu stars have gained significant attention and has landed him in soup.