Junior NTR Appeals not to Stop Screening of ‘Adurs’. I am a ‘pucca’ Hyderabadi, says Jr NTR

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తను ఏ ప్రాంతానికీ వ్యతిరేకం కాదన్న ఎన్టీఆర్‌

With Telangana students and leaders threatening to boycott and disrupt screening of the film Adurs, which has Junior NTR in the lead, every other day, the actor finally broke his silence on Monday. In a brief statement, the grandson of the late NT Rama Rao appealed to the people in the region not to stop screening of his film, which is set to hit the screens on Jan 13 as he ‘‘belongs to all regions.’’ A ban, though unofficial, on the film means loss of crores of rupees.

Obliging the T activists, who had been demanding an ‘‘appeal’’ from him, the actor said, ‘‘like every other film artiste, I belong to all regions and have attained stardom thanks to the support extended by people in the entire State. As such, I am not against any region or section of people.’’ However, in a subtle defiance, he asserted: ‘‘I was born and brought up in Hyderabad and will live here till the end of my days.’’ Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA) president Muralimohan convened a meeting of the association here on Tuesday to issue another appeal to the people of the region not to stop screening of films.

Earlier in the day, TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao’s daughter K Kavitha demanded that Tollywood make its stand clear on the Telangana issue. In fact, on behalf of several Telangana outfits, Kavitha called upon film distributors and exhibitors in the region to postpone the release of Adurs, which is produced by TDP MLA Kodali Nani, a close friend of Junior NTR who had campaigned for the Telugu Desam ahead of last year’s Assembly elections.

However, requests from distributors and exhibitors like the Hyderabad Film Chamber representative Vijayender Reddy softned Kavitha who agreed to revise their decision on condition that a proper statement on the T issue be made by anyone from the Adurs unit.

‘‘If film personalities say one should not mix films and politics, they should explain how Mohan Babu, Chiranjeevi and Kodali Nani took a united State stand.

We have every right to stop screening of the films of those who are working against Telangana. Moreover, if films made by T-opponents are released, public reaction will be sharp and it will have a bearing on the issue,’’ Kavitha said.