There has been a lot of excitement in both Telugu states over a meeting between Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and many popular, powerful members of the Telugu film industry, held on December 26. The all-important gathering was called even as the Allu Arjun theatre stampede controversy rages on– a tipping point in ongoing tensions between the Telangana government and Tollywood. The Revanth Reddy government came down hard on the Telugu film industry in the past few weeks after a woman died in a stampede as fans thronged to see Allu Arjun at a movie premiere. This meeting was seen by many as an attempt by industry bigwigs to placate the Chief Minister and secure the financial interests of the fraternity.
Both CM Revanth and producer ‘Dil’ Raju, who led the Tollywood delegation, said they discussed how to bring international recognition to Telugu cinema, what the government can do to support the industry, and what Telugu films can do to promote the state’s tourism, among other things. However, in such a crucial meeting comprising top politicians and filmmakers, with an agenda that has implications for the state’s politics and popular culture, the absence of women, even those from the few powerful families that practically control Tollywood, was glaringly conspicuous.
Not only that, the meeting also did not ostensibly discuss the grave issues of gender injustice in the film industry, despite several allegations of sexual harassment coming up against men in the fraternity.
Even a top female actor like Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is not only popular but also a bankable star, was not invited to the meeting. Actor-producer Lakshmi Manchu said that this exclusion of women, even those with massive fanfare, is disappointing.
“I’m glad the industry is rallying together at a challenging time, but I wish they did this for women too. When it’s a problem concerning women, only women have to deal with it,” Lakshmi told TNM. Lakshmi, who has acted and produced multiple Telugu films, was last seen in the Malayalam film Monster starring Mohanlal.
The Tollywood delegation, led by Telangana State Film Development Corporation Chairman and renowned producer ‘Dil’ Raju, had 45 members – 11 actors including Nagarjuna and Venkatesh, 21 producers including Suresh Babu and Allu Aravind, and 13 directors including K Raghavendra Rao, Trivikram Srinivas, and others. However, the Film Development Corporation didn’t include a single woman, despite the industry having several renowned women producers, artists, and technicians.
Filmmaker Nandini Reddy – an acclaimed director who made successful films such as Ala Modalaindi and Oh! Baby – told TNM she had not received an invitation from those who organised the meeting with CM Revanth. Nor did actor Jhansi, who has nearly three decades of experience in Telugu films and television playing supporting roles, most recently seen in Saripodhaa Sanivaaram and Mathu Vadalara 2. Actor-producer Supriya Yarlagadda, granddaughter of veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, and the CEO and Executive Director of Annapurna Studios too did not get an invite, as they all confirmed to TNM.
All of these women have been part of the informal support group Voice of Women (VoW), established by a few women from the industry in 2018, in the wake of Tollywood’s short-lived MeToo movement. Jhansi and Supriya are also members of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce’s Sexual Harassment Redressal Panel, also constituted around the same time.
Other prominent, vocal women from the industry, including producers Swapna Dutt and Priyanka Dutt, former General Secretary of the Tollywood Movie Artistes Association (MAA) Jeevitha Rajasekhar, and many other senior artists, were also absent from the meeting.
While a few prominent families hold immense power in the Telugu film industry, even women from these same families were not seen at the meeting with CM Revanth. While actor Nagarjuna turned up, his wife and actor Amala Akkineni, who is the Director of Annapurna College of Film and Media, and his niece Supriya, who manages Annapurna Studios, weren’t present.
Actors Varun Tej and Sai Durgha Tej were present, but not their cousin and actor Chiranjeevi’s daughter Sushmita Konidela, who is a costume designer and producer. Screenwriter Vijayendra Prasad, director SS Rajamouli’s father, was invited. But Rajamouli’s wife Rama, and his relative MM Srivalli, who also work with him as a costume designer and line producer, were not seen.
Apart from senior actors Venkatesh and Nagarjuna, the invitees also included Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Kiran Abbavaram, Siva Balaji, Adivi Sesh, Nithiin, Siddhu Jonnalagadda, and Ram Pothineni. But none of the women actors, whether popular stars or supporting actors, were at the meeting.
This sidelining of women is not a first. It is in fact, quite typical of the Telugu film industry.
‘Women reduced to zero’
In 2022, when similar tensions arose with the previous Andhra Pradesh government led by former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, many A-listers from Tollywood went to meet him, including Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, and Rajamouli. That meeting too did not have any women.
Commenting on the lack of gender diversity in the delegation, Lakshmi Manchu told TNM, “It’s heartbreaking and frustrating to see zero representation of women in such forums.”
At the December 26 meeting, CM Revanth said they discussed plans to elevate Hyderabad as a global hub for cinema, aiming to attract Bollywood and even Hollywood to the city. Lakshmi pointed out that women actors such as Waheeda Rehman, Sridevi, and Jayaprada began their careers in the Telugu film industry and went on to earn nationwide and even international acclaim for their contribution to cinema. “But now, our women are reduced to zero representation,” she said.
In Tollywood, women’s participation is sought out only in what is seen as “women’s issues” such as sexual harassment allegations, Lakshmi added.
Recently in September, when a 21-year-old woman choreographer accused popular choreographer Jani Master of sexual assault when she was a minor, the silence of industry bigwigs was unmissable.
In the wake of the Hema Committee report being published in Kerala, members of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce and its sexual harassment redressal panel, as well as Voice of Women (VoW), have been demanding that a two-year-old sub-committee report on sexual harassment and discrimination in Tollywood be made public by the Telangana government, which could help formulate guidelines for the film industry.
“We’ve been asking where the report is,” Lakshmi, who is part of VoW, said, asking why the ‘senior’ representatives of Tollywood sought to interface with the government and refused to engage with grave issues related to gender justice.
Meeting to mend things after Allu Arjun controversy?
On the surface, both the government and the delegation members have been evasive about the purpose of the dramatic meeting on December 26.
There have been growing signs of hostility towards the film industry under the Telangana Congress government. Soon after Revanth Reddy came to power, the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Monitoring and Protection (HYDRA), an agency established by him to remove illegal encroachments, demolished the popular N Convention Centre owned by actor Nagarjuna.
On December 4, when Allu Arjun turned up at Hyderabad’s Sandhya theatre for a premiere show of his film Pushpa 2: The Rule, his visit triggered a stampede which killed a woman named Revathi and critically injured her son. The incident became a flashpoint. Allu Arjun was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and was arrested briefly before being released on bail.
After many members of the film industry and Opposition leaders thronged to show him support, CM Revanth doubled down on his criticism of not just Allu Arjun’s actions during the stampede, but the entire film industry’s behaviour in the wake of the incident. “These movie celebrities have stood in queue to visit someone who was arrested for just one day and are criticising me and the government. But none of these celebrities have come forward to show sympathy to the child. I don’t understand what these film industry members are thinking,” CM Revanth said in the Assembly on December 21, referring to several Tollywood actors and filmmakers making a beeline to visit Allu Arjun in the week following his arrest on December 13.
He appealed to the film industry members to not act “inhuman”. “You do your business. Take incentives and subsidies from the government, and ask for special privileges for shooting. But after someone loses their life, if you ask for special privileges, you will not get them as long as I’m in power,” he said.
On the same day, Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said that from now on, the government will not allow visits of the actors to theatres and special benefit shows or premiere shows ahead of the release of a film, shows for which tickets are sold at very high prices. The December 4 premiere shows of Pushpa 2 had tickets priced as high as Rs 1400 each. The Minister, however, said that the government will continue to extend special incentives for the promotion of the film industry, but will not increase the rates of cinema tickets.
After Allu Arjun held a press meet rejecting CM Revanth’s criticism as “character assassination,” other Congress leaders continued to make critical remarks against him.
In this atmosphere, the December 26 meeting was seen by the media and public as an attempt by the industry to rally behind Allu Arjun and to make amends with the Revanth Reddy government, to protect the economic interests of the industry bigwigs.
Although ‘Dil’ Raju said that the issue of benefit shows and ticket rates were “trivial”, and that the meeting focused on making Hyderabad a global cinema hub, media coverage around the meeting was largely focused on these issues.