Amid the cancellation of early benefit shows and other disruptions to the screening of Pawan Kalyan’s Vakeel Saab, alleged fans of the actor went on a rampage, around midnight on Thursday, destroying cinema theatres. The incidents took place in parts of Andhra Pradesh, and one was reported in Telangana as well.
In Jogulamba Gadwal in Telangana, self-proclaimed fans of Pawan Kalyan destroyed a theatre. Videos of the incident surfaced online, where maskless people were seen breaking doors, windows and other infrastructure at Srinivasa Theatre, as the first show was stopped abruptly due to satellite issues. Later, the management managed to screen the show after sorting out the technical glitch.
In Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, the movie theatres, Krishna Teja, Shanti and Sandhya witnessed stone pelting as the scheduled benefit show was cancelled. At least five movie theatres were damaged in Tirupati alone.
Several fans speaking to local media claimed that the government of Andhra Pradesh had deliberately cancelled early benefit shows of the movie despite the fact they had bought tickets.
Tirupati’s urban district police are examining the theatres where the incidents of stone-pelting and vandalising were reported.
In West Godavari's Nidadavolu, fans staged a protest in front of the local MLA’s house demanding screening of the benefit show of the movie.
In Kadapa’s Badvel town, a fight broke out between theatre management and people claiming to be Pawan Kalyan fans, as the latter allegedly broke the chairs in the theatre.
Starring Pawan Kalyan in the lead role, Vakeel Saab is directed by Sriram Venu and is the Telugu remake of Pink, the 2016 Bollywood courtroom drama.
While Pawan dons Amitabh Bachchan’s role from the Bollywood movie. Nivetha Thomas, Anjali and Ananya Nagalla take on Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang’s roles from the original, respectively. Shruti Haasan essays the role of Pawan Kalyan’s wife in the movie