Hyderabad: Students across India spent weeks fighting for accountability over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak. They protested on the streets, faced police action and refused to back down until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. Yet, even after their struggle delivered a major result, Tollywood’s biggest stars haven’t said a word.

As of the time of writing, no public statement supporting the protesters could be found from Allu Arjun, Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Prabhas, Mahesh Babu, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna or Vijay Deverakonda.

These are some of the most powerful names in Indian cinema. Their films earn hundreds of crores, their birthdays become celebrations and their smallest social media updates dominate timelines. But when students were fighting for their future, the industry’s biggest voices seemingly had nothing to say.

Even after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday, none of these stars publicly acknowledged the students’ struggle or congratulated the youth for forcing accountability from those in power.

Bollywood didn’t exactly cover itself in glory either. Several Hindi film stars remained silent for weeks before posting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the protests. The timing led many social media users to question whether celebrities had finally received a “green signal” from the government.

Still, Bollywood eventually reacted. Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan and Ananya Panday were among those who posted about the issue, even if their delayed response attracted criticism. Sonu Sood, Dia Mirza, Pooja Bhatt, Anurag Kashyap, Naseeruddin Shah and others also raised their voices.

Tollywood’s biggest stars, however, have continued with business as usual.

Prakash Raj was one of the rare prominent actors associated with Telugu cinema who refused to remain silent. He joined students at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park and said he was standing with them for his conscience. His presence only made the absence of the industry’s other leading names more noticeable.

Nobody expects actors to comment on every political controversy. But this movement wasn’t about campaigning for a political party. It was about students demanding a fair examination system and accountability after an alleged paper leak placed their futures at risk.

It also raises an uncomfortable question. Are Tollywood’s A-listers afraid to speak, or has their privilege placed them so far away from the ground that they can no longer see what ordinary students are going through?

Allu Arjun, Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Prabhas proudly carry the “pan-India star” tag. Mahesh Babu, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Vijay Deverakonda command enormous influence among young audiences. But being pan-India cannot only mean collecting money from audiences across the country. That influence also carries a responsibility to recognise the people who make such stardom possible.

Tollywood loves stories in which heroes challenge corrupt systems, fight injustice and stand beside ordinary people. When India’s students did exactly that in real life, however, most of its biggest screen heroes were nowhere to be seen.

The education minister has resigned, but Tollywood’s silence continues. And now, that silence is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.