Magadheera creates ripples

TIRUPATI: Release of Ramcharan Tej’s new movie “Magadheera” appears to be assuming political overtones in Tirupati.

Since the much-hyped ‘Magadheera’ is Ramcharan Tej’s first movie to hit the silver screen post-elections, there is lot of excitement both in the film and political circles for obvious reasons.

Threaten
Even as the theatres in Tirupati are preparing to run eight shows of the movie after its scheduled release on July, 31, Chittoor district Youth Congress leaders have threatened to disrupt the shows if the theatres ran more than four shows.

At a press meet on Tuesday, Youth Congress leaders led by district spokesperson Rambhupal Reddy said that they would not remain mute spectators if the theatres tried to make a fortune by selling the ticket at a price of Rs.500.

In retaliation, ‘Chiranjeevi Seva Dal’ was quick to counter the warning .

At their press meet Chiru fans led by Kiran Royal asked their Youth Congress counterparts not to politicise an issue, which is purely related to film and fans domain. While supporting the theatres running extra shows, the Seva Dal leaders said that it is the only way to satisfy Chiru and Ramcharan fans who are sure to throng the theatres for the initial shows. There would otherwise be stampedes, they said.

While the Chiranjeevi Seva Dal leaders claim that the theatres have taken the permission of the RDO to screen six or eight shows, Tirupati RDO Venkateswarlu in a release said that theatres, which screen extra shows without the written permission of the Joint Collector would have their licences cancelled.

The RDO announced in his release that a Deputy Tahsildar and three Village Revenue Officers (VROs) each would be stationed at all theatres. Further, theatres were also asked to suspend advance booking and sell all tickets across the counter through current booking without any premium price.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Gangaraju promised to deploy police at the theatres .

Meanwhile, two days ahead of the release of movie, which is billed to be a run-away-hit, Ram Charan Tej offered prayers at Srikalahasti on Wednesday .