Panel to examine controversial movie after Telangana protests

A day after violent protests in Telangana over a Telugu movie, which allegedly showed the Telangana movement in poor light, the Andhra Pradesh government Saturday formed a panel to recommend deletion of objectionable scenes.

Minister for Information and Public Relations D.K. Aruna constituted a committee headed by Information and Public Relations Commissioner R.V. Chandravadan to assess "Cameraman Ganga tho Rambabu" starring Pawan Kalyan.

The panel along with film producer Dil Raju and director Puri Jagannath will watch the movie and make recommendations to the Andhra Pradesh Film Development Corporation.

Alleging that the movie lampoons its leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao and his son K. Tarakarama Rao, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has demanded a total ban on its screening. TRS activists Friday attacked cinema theatres in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana and stopped its screening. They also ransacked the offices of the producer and director in Hyderabad.

Protests against the movie continued for the second day in Telangana districts Saturday. Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) convenor M. Kodandaram condemned it as an attempt to belittle the movement for Telangana state.

TRS politburo member D. Sharavan said that deleting some scenes from the film would not pacify the people of Telangana and demanded a total ban on its screening. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also sought a ban on the movie, saying it not only showed Telangana leaders in poor light but also ridiculed its chief N. Chandrababu Naidu. TDP activists staged a protest demanding ban on the movie in Kurnool district of the Rayalaseema region.

TDP leader from Telangana E. Dayakar Rao warned that screening of the movie would have serious consequences. The film fraternity, state ministers and other leaders were divided along the regional lines.

While Information and Public Relations Minister Aruna, who hails from Telangana, said a film should not target people of a particular region, religion and caste, her cabinet colleague G. Srinivasa Rao from the Andhra region, defended the film.

Rao, who watched the movie at a theatre in Visakhapatnam, said there was nothing objectionable in it. "One should see cinema only as cinema. There is nothing objectionable in it," he said.

President of Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce M. Vijayender Reddy said there were many objectionable scenes in the film. He demanded the film should not be screened till those scenes were deleted.