Hyderabad: The arrest of Tollywood star Allu Arjun in Hyderabad on Friday (December 13) and his imprisonment overnight has kicked off speculation whether it was a fallout of a grouse Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy nursed against him.
At a press meet to express his thanks over the success of the film Pushpa 2, starring him, Arjun was seen mumbling or pretending to have forgotten the name of Revanth Reddy in the flow of his speech while reacting to the hike in the ticket price for the film allowed by Telangana government. In the same breath, however, Arjun thanked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan earlier. When it came to Revanth Reddy, it was after a pause and prompting by a media crew that Arjun got his name right.
Ticket price hike controversy
The Telangana government had permitted a hike in ticket price for the pre-release premier show from Rs 200 to Rs 800 in single-screen theatres and Rs 200 to Rs 1,200 in multiplexes. At the same time, a hike from Rs 100 to 200 for thirteen days was also allowed to maximise the film’s opening collections and cater to high demand from the fans.
When the government of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh followed suit to hike the price, Allu Arjun had also taken to Twitter immediately to thank Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan but made no such mention of Revanth Reddy.
The hike of Rs 600 and Rs 1,000 for the premier show was the highest ever conceded by the government. Revanth Reddy’s political opponent and Bharat Rashtra Samiti working president K.T. Rama Rao made fun of the Chief Minister that an actor for whose sake the ticket price was hiked could not even pronounce his name.
Tragedy at Sandhya theatre
Also, Arjun took two days to react to the death of a middle-aged woman in a stampede when he went to watch the premier show at Sandhya 70 MM Theater in Hyderabad. He defended the delay at the same press meet saying he could not react earlier as he was in a state of shock and that his mind went blank. Even the film industry chose not to react to the tragedy.
The reported vengeance side to the arrest of Arjun was denied by Telugu Film Producers Council General Secretary Tummala Prasanna Kumar. He blamed Arjun for going to the premiere in a theatre located in a highly crowded area. A stampede-like situation was always expected at the theatre for any film release. Also, the fans’ activity was high at the theatre with meetings on a daily basis.
Prasanna Kumar also found fault with Arjun for waiving to the crowd from his car which led to its emotional upsurge.
The arrest of Arjun was preceded by another embarrassment for the film industry: a few months ago, the government pulled down a swank convention centre owned by actor Nagarjuna as part of a drive against encroachments in the full tank level and buffer zones of lakes in and around Hyderabad.
The industry had backed Nagarjuna while criticising the government. Realising the widening gap with the industry, the government appointed noted producer Dil Raju as the chairman of the State Film Development Corporation. He assumed office on December 18.
Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce president P. Ramakrishna Goud said, “Everything is normal now. Dil Raju will assume charge of his office on Wednesday (December 18).”
