Kiran Abbavaram has been outspoken about the Tamil audience's non-receptivity towards Telugu movies. The success of event movies like Baahubali, RRR and Pushpa in Tamil Nadu doesn't mean much. The Telugu audience have given a market to medium-range heroes like Suriya and Karthi, who receive more love than even most non-superstar Telugu heroes. On the other hand, most Telugu heroes, including superstars, struggle to register good openings in Tamil Nadu even when their movies are good content-wise.
Kiran has a point. But it's futile to suggest that the Tamil audience reject Telugu movies purely out of prejudice. The themes of many hit Telugu films are actually backward. Game Changer had no original themes. Shyam Singha Roy had a familiar reincarnation plot. The movies Balakrishna acts in are commercial entertainers with nothing out of the ordinary. Waltair Veerayya wouldn't have become a blockbuster in Telugu had it not been for its Sankranthi timing; so, don't bother to ask why Tamilians didn't want it. The kind of movies Pawan Kalyan acts in don't excite even the Telugu audience (OG is a rare exception).
For that matter, even the Telugu audience don't like Tamil movies when the lead performance is generic. Suriya was accepted because he looked stylish in films like Ghajini. Same holds for Vikram, whose acting was phenomenal in Aparichitudu. Once he continued to do lame movies, he lost his market in Telugu. In the last 10 years, Tamil movies have mostly lost their sheen in the Telugu States. On balance, we are more accepting. In fact, far more accepting historically. But the hype Tamil heroes enjoy in Telugu has been receding fast.
