Days before the release of his movie, Allu Arjun generously wished Mahesh Babu and his movie all the best. He did it despite the fact that 'Sarileru Neekevvaru' is the biggest competitor of 'Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo' this Sankranthi. The vibes were healthy and the fans of these two stars seemed to be largely pleasant toward each other.

But things have turned ugly since then. Fan wars have been stubborn on social media over the box-office collections of these two Sankranthi biggies. This weekend, the heated and polarizing fan wars have reached a zenith with Mahesh's fans launching #FakeKaBaapAlluArjun and Bunny’s fans doubling down with #FakeQweenMaheshbabu.

Demeaning hashtags of this sort are new to Telugu cinema. In Kollywood, the fans of Vijay and Ajith have done it many times, much to the amusement of the entire country. The latest fan wars on social media prove that Telugu fans are catching up. This is not a harmless scenario.

What next?

Obviously, further polarization is only to be expected. Most of the times, actors don't intervene to put an end to such ugly wars for whatever reason. Fans will redouble their toxic trolling. If the tradition in Kollywood is anything to go by, we have to brace up for more such 'creative' hashtags.