Iran Uses Telugu Film Clips In Its Messaging Against US

Iran is turning to Telugu cinema in its messaging against the United States. After sharing a clip from Nandamuri Balakrishna's 'Bhagavanth Kesari', Iran's Hyderabad Consulate has now invoked Prabhas' 'Baahubali'. The latest post came following Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's speech at the United Nations. The posts link Telugu film scenes of resistance and defiance to Iran's message directed at the United States.

Written by AI from TV9 Telugu (video) · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 28 Sept 2026, 9:10 pm IST

Source

TV9 Telugu (video) · read the original report ↗

#iran#tollywood#diplomacy#social media#baahubali

Desk check · some claims need care

What the desk checked (4)

Iran's Hyderabad Consulate shared a clip from Nandamuri Balakrishna's 'Bhagavanth Kesari' in its messaging against the US — Stated in source without a link, date or screenshot; attribution is to the Consulate but unverified in text.
The Consulate later invoked Prabhas' 'Baahubali' following President Masoud Pezeshkian's UN speech — Appears in source; sequencing is asserted, no quote or post text given.
The posts link Telugu film scenes of resistance and defiance to Iran's message toward the US — Interpretive characterisation by the source, not an attributed statement.
Masoud Pezeshkian is Iran's President and delivered a UN speech — Mentioned in source; no date or content of the speech provided.

Written by AI from TV9 Telugu (video) · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Strategic Affairs Analyst

This is not fandom — it is low-cost, tightly targeted public diplomacy. By tying resistance scenes from Bhagavanth Kesari and Baahubali to its messaging after President Masoud Pezeshkian's UN speech, Iran's Hyderabad Consulate is translating its posture toward Washington into a local language and a local emotional idiom. A state under diplomatic pressure is choosing cultural shorthand over conventional statements.

Consulate-level social media posts are not formal policy declarations, but they are messaging instruments that usually run in step with the line set in the capital.
Choosing Telugu cinema targets a large, emotionally invested audience in India directly — a downstream strategy that bypasses policy circles in Delhi and speaks to the public.
The framing of resistance and defiance fits Iran's long-standing self-narrative of endurance rather than vulnerability.
For India this is delicate: New Delhi balances ties with both Washington and Tehran, and seeing Indian cultural products enlisted in messaging against a third country can be awkward.
Washington rarely responds officially to posts of this kind; any real effect is likely to register at the level of public perception rather than diplomacy.

What to watch — Watch whether the campaign extends to other Indian languages or other Iranian missions abroad, and whether any objection surfaces from the Indian government or the film industry.

The story does not establish whether the posts were directed from Tehran, whether the filmmakers or actors consented to the use of their clips, or whether the US or India has made any official response.

Deep dive

Research brief · 6 facts · 3 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

Iran's consulate in Hyderabad has begun using clips from popular Telugu films in its public messaging aimed at the United States. It first shared a clip from Nandamuri Balakrishna's "Bhagavanth Kesari" and has now invoked Prabhas' "Baahubali". The latest post came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's speech at the United Nations. The posts tie cinematic scenes of resistance and defiance to Iran's political message directed at Washington.

Key facts

Iran's Hyderabad Consulate is using Telugu cinema clips in messaging directed against the United States.
The first such post used a clip from Nandamuri Balakrishna's film 'Bhagavanth Kesari'.
The latest post invoked Prabhas' film 'Baahubali'.
The 'Baahubali' post followed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's speech at the United Nations.
The posts link Telugu film scenes of resistance and defiance to Iran's message toward the US.
Hashtags used with the messaging included #Iran, #USIranWar, #IranUSA, #Tollywood and #DonaldTrump.

Timeline

Earlier (exact date not stated in the source)Iran's Hyderabad Consulate shares a clip from Nandamuri Balakrishna's 'Bhagavanth Kesari' as part of its messaging against the US.
Not dated in the sourceIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech at the United Nations.
After the UN speechThe Consulate invokes Prabhas' 'Baahubali' in a fresh post directed at the US.

Who has a stake

Iran's Consulate in Hyderabad — Using local popular culture to build sympathy for Iran's position and amplify its anti-US messaging in India.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian — His UN speech is the trigger and reference point for the Consulate's latest post.
United States — Is the target of the messaging; named in hashtags alongside Donald Trump.
Telugu film industry (Tollywood), Prabhas and Nandamuri Balakrishna — Their films' scenes are being repurposed for a foreign state's political messaging, without any stated consent in the source.
Telugu-speaking audiences in India — Are the intended recipients of the culturally tailored diplomatic messaging.

Why it matters

A foreign mission adapting regional Indian cinema for geopolitical messaging shows how public diplomacy is moving from formal statements to culturally localised social media content. It raises questions about consulates using host-country popular culture to influence local opinion on a bilateral dispute India is not party to. For readers, it is a concrete example of soft power and digital diplomacy operating at the sub-national level.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Iran maintains a Consulate in Hyderabad, which issued the Telugu film-based posts.
Masoud Pezeshkian is the President of Iran referred to in the story, following his UN speech.
'Bhagavanth Kesari' stars Nandamuri Balakrishna; 'Baahubali' stars Prabhas — both Telugu (Tollywood) films.
The messaging is directed against the United States; hashtags included #USIranWar and #DonaldTrump.
Consulates are sub-national diplomatic missions, distinct from an embassy in the national capital.

Mains framing

The Iranian Consulate in Hyderabad's use of Telugu film clips — 'Bhagavanth Kesari' and then 'Baahubali' — to carry its message against the United States after President Masoud Pezeshkian's UN speech illustrates the shift in public diplomacy from official communiques to culturally localised, emotion-driven social media content. The causes lie in the low cost and high reach of digital platforms, the mass appeal of regional cinema, and the incentive for states in adversarial situations to seek third-country public sympathy; cinema's ready-made vocabulary of resistance and defiance makes the transfer of meaning easy. The implications are twofold: it can normalise foreign missions intervening in host-country public opinion on disputes to which the host state is not a party, and it entangles film industries and actors in geopolitics without any consent recorded in the source. A way forward would emphasise clarity on the limits of permissible mission publicity, transparency about official accounts, and media literacy so audiences distinguish entertainment imagery from verified geopolitical claims; the source does not state any policy response by Indian authorities or the film industry.

Key terms

Consulate: A diplomatic office of one country in a city of another, below embassy level; here Iran's mission in Hyderabad.
Public diplomacy: A state's effort to influence foreign publics rather than only foreign governments — here through film clips on social media.
Tollywood: Popular term for the Telugu-language film industry, whose scenes were used in the posts.
Masoud Pezeshkian: Iran's President, whose United Nations speech preceded the Consulate's 'Baahubali' post.
United Nations: The global body at whose forum the Iranian President delivered the speech referenced in the messaging.

Practice questions

Examine how digital platforms and popular culture are reshaping public diplomacy, using the example of Iran's Hyderabad Consulate invoking Telugu films in its messaging against the United States.
What are the limits on a foreign consulate's political messaging in a host country? Discuss with reference to the use of Indian regional cinema for a bilateral dispute India is not party to.
Soft power is increasingly regional rather than national. Critically comment in the light of foreign missions tailoring content to specific Indian language audiences.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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