Representatives from the Telugu film industry will meet Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy amid strained ties between the state government and the movie fraternity, weeks after actor Allu Arjun’s arrest of the Pushpa 2 screening stampede that killed a woman.
Actor Nagarjuna, and producers Allu Arvind and C Kalyan were among the earliest to arrive at Hyderabad’s Command Control Centre. Telangana State Film Development Corporation (FDC) chairman and leading producer Dil Raju had on Wednesday said the delegation will aim to foster “healthy relations” between the government and the industry.
Following a stampede at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre on December 4 during the screening of ‘Pushpa: The Rule‘, 42-year-old Allu Arjun was arrested on December 13. While he was released on bail a day later, police claimed the actor held a roadshow at the theatre without warnings.
The meet comes as cinematography minister Komatireddi Venkat Reddy said the state government may might consider ticket price hikes only for certain film on history, freedom struggle or with anti-drugs message. This could likely have an impact on upcoming releases including Ram Charan’s “Game Changer“, Nandamuri Balakrishna’s “Daaku Maharaj” and Venkatesh’s “Sankranthiki Vasthunnam“.
While Allu Arjun denied all “road show” allegations, he has repeatedly called the incident purely accidental, while also vowing support to the victim’s family. The woman’s son Sri Tej, who was injured in the stampede, was taken off ventilator Monday.
