Popular hero and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan’s aggressive attack on the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh on the online cinema ticket trade issue and his other political comments during a film function a couple of days ago has cast a shadow on the upcoming elections to Movie Artistes’ Association.
Already, the Tollywood fraternity is virtually divided into two camps – one led by Prakash Raj and another by Manchu Vishnu, which are fighting a bitter battle in the MAA elections.
At this juncture, Pawan’s comments added fuel to the fire in the film industry. While only a few actors like Nani, Sampoornesh Babu and Karthikeya openly extended support to Pawan Kalyan, while majority of the film fraternity stayed away from the controversy. The Telugu film chamber said it would disassociate with Pawan Kalyan’s comments.
Even Pawan’s eldest brother megastar Chiranjeevi, who is representing the industry to negotiate with the Jagan government, is said to be in an embarrassing situation and preferred to remain silent.
As the YSRC leaders led by Andhra information minister Perni Nani launched a scathing attack on Pawan, no film industry person came in support of him.
Against this backdrop, Manchu Vishnu on Tuesday sought to made Pawan Kalyan’s comments a major issue in the ongoing MAA elections.
Speaking to media after filing his nomination, Vishnu said he won’t agree with the criticism made by Pawan Kalyan on the online ticketing trade proposed to be taken over by the Jagan government.
“As a representative of Telugu film industry, producer and actor, I fully endorse the statement given by Telugu film chamber of commerce in this regard,” Vishnu said.
Apparently, Vishnu has not taken kindly the way Pawan Kalyan dragged his father Manchu Mohan Babu’s name into his tirade against the Jagan government. While Mohan Babu said he would react after the MAA elections, Vishnu decided to hit back at Pawan immediately.
What is more, he also dragged his rival in the elections – Prakash Raj into the controversy, thereby making Pawan Kalyan’s comments as an election plank.
“Prakash Raj should also come out with his stand in this regard – whether or not he is supporting Pawan Kalyan’s comments. He should make it clear whether he is on Pawan Kalyan’s side or Telugu film industry side,” he asked.
Stating that producers are the gods for the film industry, Vishnu said the actors would have to follow their decisions.
“The producers’ council has already started negotiations with the AP government and the minister clearly said the government has decided to take over online ticket sales only on the request of the producers. I am sure Perni Nani won’t lie in this regard,” he said.
Thus what is being seen as Jana Sena-YSRC war has now turned into Prakash Raj-Manchu Vishnu battle in the MAA elections. It remains to be seen how the other film personalities react on this latest battle.