Chiranjeevi Heard the “Boss Thokkesadu” Memes. Then He Used the Joke Himself.

Chiranjeevi was talking to Faria Abdullah about an opportunity that did not happen when he slipped in the line everybody in the room seemed to recognize. After asking why she had missed Vishwambhara, he jokingly wondered whether she had been trying to “thokkey” him — effectively turning the long-running “Boss thokkesadu” meme about Chiranjeevi suppressing others into a joke at his own expense. The auditorium reaction made the internet reference difficult to miss.

The exchange happened at Sigma’s Hyderabad pre-release event, where Chiranjeevi appeared as chief guest alongside Sundeep Kishan, Faria and debut director Jason Sanjay. Multiple Telugu outlets picked up the same moment Saturday, while separate X clips of the remark circulated from accounts including Telugu Chitraalu and Filmy Focus. That does not prove every interpretation attached to the meme; it does establish that Chiranjeevi publicly used the language around it himself.

That distinction matters. The original meme makes a much bigger claim — that Chiranjeevi supposedly prevents other people in the industry from advancing — for which the viral joke itself is not evidence. What happened Friday night was narrower and more interesting: a star who knows the caricature around him decided not to pretend it did not exist. He folded it into a joke while speaking directly to Faria.

The rest of the event was far warmer than the meme might suggest. Chiranjeevi praised Sundeep Kishan’s appetite for unusual films, saying it reminded him of his own younger years, and supported Jason Sanjay’s directorial debut. Sigma, produced by Lyca Productions with Thaman’s music, is scheduled for October 2.