S Thaman, one of Telugu cinema’s busiest composers, has been basking in the success of They Call Him OG, the Pawan Kalyan starrer whose soundtrack turned into a chartbuster even before the film hit the screens. In a recent post-release interview with GreatAndhra, the composer revisited a much rougher chapter in his career, the backlash he faced during the making of Guntur Kaaram.

When Thaman was announced as the composer for the Mahesh Babu–Trivikram film, social media erupted with disapproval. The hashtag “Remove Thaman from SSMB28” trended with over 67,000 posts on X. 

Reflecting on that period, Thaman admitted, “I don’t know why Mahesh Babu’s fans had so much negativity towards me. I never gave a bad album for Mahesh Babu.” Thaman also composed music for Mahesh Babu starrer Dookudu and Businessman which turned into blockbusters. 

The composer recalled how the trolling left him shaken. “Trivikram gaaru stood by me like Mount Everest and asked me to stay away from social media and focus on work. I cried a lot alone in a room when I saw the negative trend against me.”

Despite the rough patch, Thaman’s collaboration with Trivikram has been a constant with hits like Aravinda Sametha and Ala Vaikuntapurramlo, and his music has continued to find its way into big-ticket films. With OG, Thaman’s score, especially tracks like ‘Hungry Cheetah’ and ‘Firestorm,’ has been praised for adding an electric pulse to Sujeeth’s gangster drama.

Looking ahead, Thaman’s schedule remains stacked. He is composing for Prabhas’ The Raja Saab, the much-anticipated Akhanda 2, Balakrishna’s NBK111, and Chiranjeevi’s film with director Bobby, among other projects.