Crucial meeting between Telangana govt, Telugu film reps to ease 'soured' ties amid high stakes

A crucial meeting between the Telangana government and Telugu film industry representatives is expected to be held on Thursday to thaw the speculated strained ties between the ruling dispensation and Tinseltown following the arrest of top actor Allu Arjun.

The 42-year-old star was arrested recently in connection with the stampede at a theatre here screening his latest movie "Pushpa: The Rule" which resulted in the death of a woman on December 4.

Telangana State Film Development Corporation (FDC) chairman and leading producer Dil Raju on Wednesday said a delegation of film personalities would call on state Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy today to foster "healthy relations" between the government and the industry.

The meeting assumes significance amid Cinematography minister Komatireddi Venkat Reddy's statement that the state government, in future, may consider ticket price hikes only for certain categories such as films made on history, freedom struggle or anti-drugs or message-oriented.

The state government's stand came in the wake of the death of a 35-year-old woman at Sandhya Theatre here due to suffocation where the 'Pushpa 2' movie was screened on December 4.

The minister’s statement, if really implemented, will have a huge impact on the high budget films such as Ram Charan’s "Game Changer", Nandamuri Balakrishna's "Daaku Maharaj" and Venkatesh’s "Sankranthiki Vasthunnam" which are slated for release during Sankranti next year.

Directed by popular Director S Shankar, Game Changer was produced by Dil Raju. The film is reportedly made with a budget of nearly Rs 400 crore.

Though the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce welcomed the government's decision that it will not allow benefit shows of movies in the state and also enhanced ticket prices will be done on a case-to-case basis, the move may not go down well with the production houses as they usually look to reap the benefits during the early day of the film release.

The meeting is being organised on behalf of the FDC, Dil Raju had said, adding, that he would act as a bridge between the government and the film fraternity.

Some ruling Congress leaders have found fault with Allu Arjun's comments last week, describing the stampede incident as purely accidental and denying the allegations made by CM Revanth Reddy on the "roadshow" before the film screening.

Hours after Reddy slammed the actor for holding a roadshow and waving to the crowds at the theatre, without referring to anyone, the 'Pushpa' star refuted the allegations, saying it was not a procession or a roadshow.

Allu Arjun was arrested by the city police in connection with the death of the woman on December 13.

The Telangana High Court granted him a four-week interim bail on the same day and he was released from a prison here on December 14 morning.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Editorji News Desk and is published from a syndicated feed.)