Kayadu Lohar was a no-show again, and this time it was Nani who had to answer for it.

The actress, who plays the female lead opposite Nani in The Paradise, stayed away from the film's press meet in Chennai on Wednesday. Only Nani and director Srikanth Odela turned up to face the cameras. The Paradise opens worldwide on September 24.

This isn't a one-off. Filmibeat Tamil reported that Kayadu had already skipped Chennai promotions for Immortal and I Am Game, both of which released earlier this month. Three promotional rounds, three absences, and fans had started asking questions online well before a journalist finally put it to Nani directly at the press meet.

Nani didn't dodge it. He told the reporter that Kayadu is currently on the shoot for Mari Selvaraj's Manjanathi, and that anyone who follows Mari Selvaraj's filmmaking knows what that schedule looks like. His argument, more or less: she's giving up her promotional slots right now so she can deliver what he called the next big film for Tamil audiences, and she'll be back on the promo circuit soon enough.

It's a fair defence on paper. Mari Selvaraj shoots are known to run long and demand total commitment from his cast, and juggling that against a parallel release's press rounds isn't simple. Whether fans buy the explanation is another matter. The absences had already picked up a nickname online, with some comparing her promotion-shy run to Nayanthara's famously selective approach to media appearances, though the comparison is more about pattern than substance so far.

Kayadu's year has actually been busy by any measure. She played a bold, high-profile role in the Malayalam film Pathonpatham Noottandu, and has otherwise stacked up credits across Pallichattambi, Idhayam Murali, Immortal and I Am Game in 2025 alone. She debuted in Tamil last year opposite Pradeep Ranganathan in Dragon and has since worked her way into projects across Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. On the numbers, she's one of the busiest young actresses moving between these three industries right now.

Which makes the promotion pattern more curious than alarming. An actress this in-demand skipping press rounds isn't necessarily strategy, it could just be a genuinely brutal shoot calendar catching up with her.

For now, The Paradise rolls toward its September 24 release with Nani and Srikanth Odela carrying the promotional load solo. Whether Kayadu resurfaces before release day, or waits until the Manjanathi schedule breaks, is the thing to watch over the next week.