Rewind: Biggest Controversies Of Year 2017

Biggest Controversies Of Year 2017

Like all industries, Tollywood was witness to some

juicy controversies this year. From expected ones to those that came as a jolt,

from conventional ones to crazy ones, from those involving big stars to

politicians, we have seen them all. IndiaGlitz takes stock of some of the biggest

rows that kissed Tollywood.

The drugs row

When Akun Sabharwal, an IPS officer, took up to

cleanse Hyderabad of the toxicity of substance abuse, not many would have expected

the Telugu film industry to be affected in its own way. But the investigation

touched some of its members.

From big names like Puri Jagannadh and Ravi Teja to small ones like Charmme Kaur,

Navdeep and Mumaith Khan, they were named as suspected drug abusers in the case.

They were grilled for hours on end. We even saw how the family members of some of

these celebs felt during those tough days. They were devastated. Some of them

blamed the media for the overkill.

All is well that ends well. None of the

Tollywoodians was convicted. As CM KCR himself said, these would be treated as

victims and not culprits!

The Nandi row

Nallamalapu Bujji (producer of ‘Race Gurram’) and

director Gunasekhar were prominently hurt when it was perceived that the Nandamuri

camp had the upper-hand in winning the prestigious Nandi awards for the years 2013,

2014 and 2015.

Films like ‘Rudrama Devi’ and ‘Manam’, it was

alleged, had been given a raw deal. It would have been less insulting had Allu

Arjun not been given an award. But he was given one in the category of Best

Character Artiste for ‘Rudrama Devi’. ‘Legend’ won 9 Nandis, years after a

commercial movie like ‘Okkadu’ won many.

Some controversies never have a closure. Will this

one have a spillover effect? Let’s see!

The Mahesh Babu controversy

When the pro-Jallikattu protests broke out in Tamil

Nadu in January, Mahesh Babu understandably tweeted out his support. So far, so

good.

But, some asked, why didn’t he wade into the Special

Category Status demand for Andhra Pradesh? Mahesh is an out-and-out apolitical

person who stays away from political issues. With respect to Tamil Nadu, he

carries no baggage. Maybe, there lies the explanation?

The NTR controversy

The usually no-nonsense Tarak had a problem with

critics when ‘Jai Lava Kusa’ released. He described them as ‘Dari lo poye

danayyalu’, suggesting that those who have no stakes in a film pass instant

judgments because they have nothing to lose.

His comments were widely quoted. What could be the

reason for the outburst? In 2018, before the release of his next movie, NTR will

surely be asked about the remarks.

The Allu Arjun controversy

Before NTR’s comments came about, there came Bunny’s

own take on why there shouldn’t be reviews of, well, emotions.

“A review is the opinion of just one person. If one

crore people watch a movie, one crore reviews exist in their minds in tune with

their life experiences and age. I respect that. But no one review can be

everybody’s point of view. A film is an emotion. How can it be given star rating?

A star rating for an emotion? Can we rate a mother?” the DJ star said.

Well, if emotions have to be watched by paying for

the ticket, why not rate the make-believe world of a film?

The ‘Arjun Reddy’ row:

This was sexier than all other rows, given its

superb adult content. V Hanumantha Rao, a Congress veteran, was offended by the

posters where Vijay Devarakonda was intensely kissing his romantic pair in ‘Arjun

Reddy’. For days on end, he complained like a sincere politician.

It’s yet to be independently assessed whether the controversy helped in revving up

the film’s market. One thing is for sure. Because of this, we came to know how

Vijay views rows. “Thatayya, chill!” the man tweeted out.

The ‘Baahubali’ row:

This was an inter-state row. Actually, Rajamouli,

his producers and the poor distributors of the film, didn’t even know this was

coming. Many years ago, we were told, Sathyaraj made insulting comments against

Kannadigas.

So, in 2017, certain pro-Kannada groups rose up in

revolt. They said that they were not ready to allow Kattappa’s film to entertain

Kannadigas. Rajamouli released a video, humbly saying that the makers have nothing

against the Kannadigas, nor were they aware of what Sathyaraj said many years ago.

The film was allowed to release. Rest, as they say, is history.

The Taapsee Pannu row

During an informal chat, Taapsee talked about she

being romantically hit by a coconut in a song in K Raghavendra Rao’s ‘Jummandi

Nadam’, her debut film, wondering how such a thing can even be called sensuous.

This comment didn’t offend Rao, but it did hurt many

of his fans. ‘What the hell!’ they lashed out. ‘What’s wrong?’ she shot back. A

few days later, before the release of ‘Anando Brahmo’, Taapsee mellowed down and

spoke of how much she respected the legendary director.

The Balakrishna row

Balakrishna was at it again. He slapped twice in

the year. Two lucky fans. They felt very happy, the star would later claim.

Asked by a TV channel as to what he thought about

the negative comments on social media for such incidents, Balayya said, “I don’t

care. Ask my fans. They feel happy over my hand touching them (as I slap). Rase

vallaki em telusu vaalla bondha.”

So, we came to know that when he slaps, it’s a

‘Paisaa Vasool’ moment for his die-hard followers.

The ‘DJ’ collections row

When the makers of ‘Duvvada Jagannadham’ talked

about the film’s collections, sections of Megastar Chiranjeevi’s fans took the

claims with a pinch of salt. For days on end, it was said that the claims were

hollow. Some trade reports claimed that the Allu Arjun movie actually posted

losses in some areas.

Harish Shankar rubbished the doubts of the doubting

Thomases. Recently, Dil Raju said that he made profits from the movie as a

producer. However, some distributors suffered losses because the film was sold at

massive rates. They recovered the losses, thanks to ‘Fidaa’.