Jana Sena chief and Tollywood star Pawan Kalyan today clarified in a public meeting in Vijayawada that there was no truth in the rumour that the assassinated TDP leader Paritala Ravi had tonsured his (Pawan Kalyan's) head many years ago.
Alleging that some TDP leaders had deliberately spread the rumour at that time, Kalyan asked, "How would I remain silent if such an insult happened to me?"
Some 15 years back, circa 2003, Pawan Kalyan was seen with a shaven head and moustache during the time he was shooting for
Johnny, in the aftermath of the massive success of
Khushi. Rumours spread at that time that TDP leader and powerful Rayalaseema factionist Paritala Ravi (around whom the two
Rakta Charitra films were shot) had gotten his head shaved due to a dispute over some land.
Kalyan said that he had heard about the rumours from his brother Naga Babu, and did not even know who Paritala Ravi was at that time. He said he had gotten his head tonsured himself (though he said that it was during the shooting of
Thammudu (1998) when it actually happened during the time Johnny was being shot (2003)). He said that he saw it as an attempt to fan caste rivalries, and campaigned for the TDP despite that issue to douse any caste rivalries (between the Kapu and Kamma castes).
Kalyan also said that unless the caste feelings and affiliations in the Vijayawada and Guntur areas ended, Amaravathi would never be a world-class capital. He said that there were no caste rifts in Telangana, and that there was only the Telangana sentiment. Chandrababu Naidu had developed Hyderabad as a multi-culture city, he remarked.