Adurs Release: Protests, Pleas, More

His father and TDP leader Nandamuri Harikrishna took a United Andhra stand, the producers of the movie are TDP leaders who "resigned" at the height of the Samaikayandhra movement in December 2009, and NTR Junior is paying a hefty price indeed for Adurs.

The film, which was to be released in December 2009, is already delayed by a month due to the ongoing Telangana fracas - which means that the producers/distributors have lost interest money on a hefty investment (Rs. 30 crore?) for that period. NTR himself was banking on this movie since his last release Kantri was a flop, and he's had no release for over 18 months.

However, the implications run deeper. Film-making activity in Tollywood is bound to be affected with the agitation and the targeting of Tollywood which is a high-visibility victim. For those Telangana agitators who see no reason to follow reason in their protests - choosing targets for visibility than for culpability - movies and stars are highly attractive victims.

That will inevitably result in postponed releases, postponed shootings and unemployed labour - thousands of them, most of them locals, from Telangana. It's an open secret that for most of the leaders spearheading the movement, it's their political careers they are concerned about much more than the lot of the common man.

In the short run, it might be temporary unemployment. And in the long run, nobody knows yet.

While Kavita is bent on blocking Adurs to ostensibly save Telangana people from the relentless and brutal tyranny of Andhra oppressors, for the rest of the world, it just appears like Hyderabad is being taken over by jingoists, the latest to articulate such sentiments being Mukesh Goud, a Telangana minister. He compared the KCR family to Raj Thackarey yesterday.

The industry has been trying its mite to beg leniency. Muralimohan, erstwhile actor and current President of MAA, said some people would be driven to suicide if Sankranti releases got blocked, Syamprasad Reddy (who heads the Producers' Council) said that the movie industry has no regional character, and director Tammareddy Bharadwaj requested co-operation for the Sankranti releases, too.

Hopefully it's only a matter of time before sanity prevails. For the time being, however, Kavita has no option now but to do all she can to trouble the film since she's painted herself into a corner by making this issue her political raison d'etre for now, and for her subsequent threats to be taken seriously, has to deliver on this one.

In the meantime, Adurs has other problems, too - a song apparently offends the Vaishnavite faith, and a Sri Vaishnava Seva Sangham is taking the issue up in right earnest.