Telugu film industry vs Telangana govt: Key meeting with CM Revanth Reddy today days after Allu Arjun's arrest

Tensions between the Telugu film industry and the Congress-led Telangana government, sparked by actor Allu Arjun's arrest, have strained ties between the two sides.

To reduce these speculated tensions, a key meeting between government and film industry representatives is likely to take place on Thursday, December 26.

The star was recently arrested in connection with the death of a woman during a stampede at a Hyderabad theatre screening of his latest film, 'Pushpa 2: The Rule' on December 4.

Though the Telangana high court granted Allu Arjun interim bail, he had to spend a night in jail due to release in the order papers.

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At the time, Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy had said that the government had no role in the stampede case, under which Arjun was arrested. He had said that the law was taking its own course.

Meanwhile, Dil Raju, Telangana State Film Development Corporation (FDC) chairman and leading producer, on Wednesday said a delegation of the industry would meet with CM Reddy to foster what he called as "healthy relations" between the government and them.

The meeting also comes in the backdrop of a statement made by cinematography minister Komatireddi Venkat Reddy, who said that the state government might in the future consider hiking the ticket price for certain film categories, like history, freedom struggle, anti-drugs, or message-oriented.

If such a policy is implemented, it could massively impact the high-budget films scheduled for a January release next year, including Ram Charan's "Game Changer," Nandamuri Balakrishna's "Daaku Maharaj," and Venkatesh's "Sankranthiki Vasthunnam."

Notably, the S Shankar directorial Game Changer is produced by Dil Raju, which is reportedly made with a budge of nearly ₹400 crore.

And while the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce welcomed the government's decision to not allow benefit shows of movies in the state and hike ticket prices on a case-to-case basis, the move may not sit well with the production houses as they generally look to get benefits during the early day of the movie release.

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The meeting with the state government is being organized on behalf of the FDC, Raju said, adding that he would act as a bridge between the administration and the film fraternity.

Meanwhile, some of the leaders of the ruling Congress have also condemned Allu Arjun's comments, describing the stampede as 'purely accidental' and denying CM Reddy's allegations against him.

The chief minister last week held Arjun responsible for the death of a 35-year-old woman and the hospitalization of her son in the stampede at Sandhya Theatre.

Reddy said the police did not give the celebrity permission to visit the theatre due to space constraints, adding that "yet, the actor had gone there to watch the movie, leading to the tragic incident."

The Hyderabad police called Arjun in for questioning on Tuesday. They reportedly asked him whether he knew that he had been denied permission to appear outside the theatre and asked him the name of the person who proceeded with the plan.

(with PTI inputs)