The comments made by TDP MLA and hero Nandamuri Balakrishna in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly sessions, alleging that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had behaved disrespectfully towards those associated with the film industry and had also insulted Chiranjeevi, are causing a stir in the political and film circles.
Responding to this controversy, Megastar Chiranjeevi released a press release informing the public about the truth of what happened, even though he was not in India. He strongly denied the allegations made by former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy that he had behaved disrespectfully towards him and the film industry.
He asserted that CM Jagan himself called him and invited him for lunch, and there he explained the problems of the industry. He indirectly countered Balayya by saying, “I will speak in the same way as I would speak to the Chief Minister or a common man.”
Chiranjeevi explained that before going to meet on behalf of the film industry, he tried to contact Balakrishna over the phone, but he was not available. Moreover, Chiranjeevi strongly clarified that it was because of his initiative that the government agreed to increase the ticket prices, and that films like ‘Walther Veeraiya’ and ‘Veerasimha Reddy’ also benefited from that decision.
With this explanation, Chiranjeevi tried to put a full stop to the political turmoil that had started in the Assembly. Explaining the need for his clarification, he said he saw Balakrishna speech in the Assembly on a live TV Channel.
“Honorable Member Sri Balakrishna said, as Kamineni Srinivas said, it is a lie that Chiranjeevi came when he asked loudly. No one asked loudly there. If he said so loudly, he would have come down. Otherwise, he would have met the Cinematography Minister.”
“Since my name was mentioned in this matter, I wanted to give an explanation to the people”, Chiranjeevi responded sarcastically to the mention of his name. Chiranjeevi also said that he spoke to the then Minister Perni Nani only after producers and directors (celebrities like Rajamouli, Koratala Siva, Mahesh, and NTR) asked him to take the initiative to increase ticket prices.