It’s been less than two months since actor-politician Balakrishna made news for whacking his assistant in public and forcing him to pick his shoes up. And once again, the Hindupur TDP MLA has been caught on camera slapping someone. This time, his unwitting victim was a TDP supporter during the "Intitiki Telugu Desam Party", an outreach campaign which is being taken out across Andhra Pradesh by the ruling TDP.
The incident occurred when a fan was forced to rush towards the the actor, as a large crowd that was following Balakrishna pushed him forward. Balakrishna was distributing campaign brochures when the incident happened.
In a video that surfaced online on Tuesday, Balakrishna can be seen hitting the fan, even as a police officer shouts at the shocked fan for falling.
As per reports, the venue of this incident is Hindupur, which is Balakrishna's sitting constituency. The details of the victim not known yet.
Balayya, as he is popularly known, is former Chief Minister NTR's son, and the brother-in-law of current Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. For this angry and hyperactive actor, getting into controversies is not new.
Earlier in August, during his electoral campaign tour in Nandyal of Kurnool, he slapped a party man who tried to take a selfie with him.
In the same month, he whacked an assistant director on the sets of Paisa Vasool.
Following the incident, the director of Paisa Vasool issued a bizarre justification for his high handed behaviour with fans in public spaces: Puri Jagannath said that Balakrishna shares a special bond with his fans, and that “fans enjoy his slaps and whacks.”
“When other heroes go out, they need bouncers. Balayya doesn’t require them. He controls his fans himself. When someone falls on him, he hits them. Those people who get hit feel very happy. The media is saying that he hit people, but what do they know about how much these people yearn for Balakrishna to hit them,” he said.
In March, much before this episode, Balakrishna had also invited solid criticism for making misogynistic remarks against women actors at an audio release functions.
“If I play eve-teasing roles, and just follow girls, my fans will not accept. Either they should be kissed or should be impregnated. That’s all. We have to commit ourselves,” he had said.
“I too act naughty with the actresses... I pinch them sometimes,” the actor added.