Actor Vijay Deverakonda has once again found himself at the centre of social media chatter—this time over the noticeable absence of the prefix ‘THE’ in the posters of his upcoming films Ranabali and Rowdy Janardhan. The netizen community quickly identified the alteration which made them mock the actor by asking what happened to his former name tag.

Tollywood star tags function as permanent actor identifiers which cause people to forget their real names. The actor known as Vijay Deverakonda used the name ‘THE Vijay Deverakonda’ in his latest films which began with Khushi that Shiva Nirvana directed. The usage of ‘THE’ was seen as a branding move to project him as a distinct and definitive presence. While the tag also attracted criticism and trolling from anti-fans, Vijay continued to use it in films like The Family Star and Kingdom.

The current promotional materials for Ranabali and Rowdy Janardhan exclude the use of ‘THE’ prefix which creates new online discussion. Social media users believed that the actor’s recent box-office failures had caused the decision because his team wanted to create a new public image.

Vijay Deverakonda responded to his online trolls through his usual method of handling such situations. Reacting to a tweet that pointed out the missing ‘THE’ in the VD14 title announcement poster, the actor wrote, “The scale doubles, the responsibility increases, the power becomes stronger. A story worth watching with heart and soul,” subtly turning the conversation back to content and storytelling. His post achieved rapid viral success.

Vijay Deverakonda is currently working on two pan-India projects—Rowdy Janardhan which Ravi Kiran Kola directs and Ranabali which Rahul Sankrityan directs. Fans have developed higher expectations because both films released their title glimpses and posters which received positive feedback.

The film Ranabali will premiere in theaters on September 11 2026 while Rowdy Janardhan will debut in theaters at an unspecified date later this year. The fans think that the actor will make a successful career comeback through these films which he will do because he will work in them.