Karnataka film industry is the pet peeve of Telugu filmwallahs these days.

Apart from being hidebound, some top names in Karnataka are said to behind the video piracy of popular Telugu films. It is from Bangalore that most VCDs emanate.

And now with Karnataka film industry going ahead with its three-week embargo, Tollywood biggies want to hit back strongly.

They had waited to announce their boycott of anything Karnataka in films hoping that there would be some last minute change of heart in Bangalore.

But now the decision will be announced formally at the meeting of the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce. The boycott could begin within 10 days, according to Adiseshagiri Rao, president of the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce.

The APFCC has already rejected the Karnataka film industry's offer of allowing screening of non-Kannada films three weeks after their release elsewhere.

Rao denies media reports that the Film Federation of India (FFI) had dropped the proposed sanctions against the Kannada film industry, in view of the offer to reduce the 50 days' embargo to 21 days.

The Telugu film industry has already appealed to the Karnataka government to intervene to solve the issue. Tollywood honchos have also sought a meeting with the Karnataka CM or his deputy.

If this move fails, Tollywod mandarins want to go to court because they do not Diwali releases to miss out. Among the new Telugu releases that were badly affected by the embargo are Pawan Kalyan's Gudamba Shankar, the Venkatesh-starrer Gharshana and Rajamouli-directed Sye.