ABVP group disrupts film shooting of Chiranjeevi’s nephew

HYDERABAD - Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s students wing Wednesday, extending support to the separate Telangana state demand, disrupted the shooting of a Telugu film of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi’s nephew Allu Arjun at Anajpur near here, police said.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists attacked the shooting unit of ‘Varudu’ and damaged its equipment near Ramoji Film City on the city outskirts.

No one was injured in the incident. Eyewitnesses said Allu Arjun and other artists had to run for safety.

The attackers, who were holding ABVP flags and raising slogans of ‘Jai Telangana’, escaped after police arrived on the scene.

Allu Arjun is son of famous producer Allu Aravind, brother-in-law of superstar Chiranjeevi.

For the second consecutive day, relatives of Telugu film personalities opposing the proposed formation of Telangana state faced the ire of pro-Telangana groups.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) activists had Tuesday disrupted the shooting of a film of actor Manchu Manoj, son of veteran actor Mohan Babu. Manoj, his sister Lakshmi Parsanna and other artists of the yet to be named film had to run for cover.

The TRS workers were protesting Mohan Babu’s remarks opposing the proposed division of the state.

Chiranjeevi, who is the president of the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), is campaigning for ‘united Andhra’. TRS and other groups have already stopped screening of films of Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan Tejan, nephew Allu Arju and other family members and also those of Mohan Babu.

Mohan Babu, along with his family members, Wednesday met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and sought security for the film industry. He also sought permission to hold a peace rally in Hyderabad. “The chief minister advised me to wait for two days,” he told reporters.

The veteran actor said his supporters would lodge complaints at various police stations against TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao for making provocative statements. He criticised Rao’s warning to film personalities to confine themselves to movies and not meddle in politics.

Mohan Babu, who is also a former parliamentarian, asked all film personalities to speak out on the Telangana issue and claimed that a majority of them were for a unified state.