Election fever has set in Tollywood with contestants starting to announce their candidacy for different posts to the Movie Artists Association (MAA) in the run up to the movie body’s polls. As per the tentative schedule, the elections are to be held in the month of September; however, the date will be announced by the association after its General Body meeting. MAA is currently headed by actor Naresh. According to reports, four members from Tollywood are in the fray for the post of President – Prakash Raj, Vishnu Manchu, Jeevitha Rajasekhar and Hema.
Actor Prakash Raj officially announced on Friday that he will be contesting for the post of President and released a list of 27 panel members. Titled CineMAA Biddalu, the panel members include Jayasudha, Bandla Ganesh, Srikanth, Benerjee, Sai Kumar, Tanish, Anasuya, Sudigali Sudheer, Sameer, Pragathi and others, who will contest for different posts in the MAA.
Speaking to the media, Prakash Raj said, “We’re not here for power or position, we want to contribute something to the film industry and maintain accountability, sustainability in whatever developmental activities we do. We’ve been doing the groundwork for the last one year and have carefully chosen the candidates. We will come forward with a detailed action plan soon.”
Filing his nomination for the post of MAA President, actor Vishnu Manchu, who earlier served as the executive vice president, said in a letter released on Sunday via social media, “I grew up in the Telugu film industry. Nobody can feel and empathise with the Telugu film fraternity like the true son of the soil. Growing up in a household that was always buzzing with notes of Telugu cinema, I have the first hand insiders feel and knowledge of our industry (sic).”
He further added that as a young president, he would be able to resonate with the ‘youthful’ nature of the industry. He said that he had contributed 25% of his earnings for the construction of the MAA building as promised.
నా MAA కుటుంబానికి .To my MAA family pic.twitter.com/1TDa3f8lYA
— Vishnu Manchu (@iVishnuManchu) June 27, 2021
Meanwhile, Prakash Raj’s announcement has also led to a locals versus non-locals controversy in the Telugu media as the actor hails from Karnataka. However, panel members Bandla Ganesh and Nagababu backed him saying artistes are universal and cannot be limited to localities.
Commenting on the issue, Bandla Ganesh said, “Be it caste, creed, region or religion, we don’t have any such differences in MAA. Prabhas is an artiste born in a Telugu household, is he not a pan India artiste now? Rajamouli is being asked to direct Hollywood movies. We should be proud of such things, and there are no such limitations for artistes. Prakash Raj has settled here for over two decades, he has adopted two villages and is helping people. Even in the recent COVID-19 times, he has served hundreds of COVID-19 patients at his farmhouse. He will do great things for MAA as well.” Prakash Raj has settled in the Telugu states for the last 23 years and is a veteran character artiste in Tollywood.
Commenting on the previous tenure of MAA, Nagababu said, “For the last four years, the association has become dull, and the dignity and decency have reduced. This needs to be restored and maintained. And we think Prakash Raj as an efficient person can do so and we’re all supporting him.”
This statement led to a row in the existing association, which on Saturday conducted a press meet in which incumbent president Naresh showed details of all the activities that MAA has done over the last four years, including donations, memberships and the other welfare activities. Naresh further added that they wanted a woman candidate to become the president this time and will support the same.