Around 50 men, claiming to be fans of actor and politician Pawan Kalyan, clashed with audience members in a theatre in Kamareddy, Telangana. The incident took place on Saturday night during a screening of the movie Vakeel Saab.
According to reports in regional media, the men were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
The ruckus created chaos in the theatre, disturbed the audience and damaged technical equipment, which led to a 30-minute delay in the screening of the show.
According to police sources, the row began when the fans started shouting and throwing empty water bottles and scraps of paper during the screening, which led to an argument with a section of the audience.
Speaking to TNM, Kamareddy Town Circle Inspector Madhusudhan said that it was a case of nuisance caused by a group of men who claimed to be fans of Pawan Kalyan. "They kept throwing scraps of paper and empty water bottles at the screen, drawing flak from other audience members. Soon the audience and fans got into an argument and thrashed each other. However, they were evicted from the theatre and the screening continued,” he said.
The inspector further added, "The theatre management has not lodged any complaint so far, the men who created the ruckus had gone by the time patrolling team reached, anyway we will register a case if they've violated COVID-19 guidelines."
The officer said that all the theatres and malls in the town were directed to make sure their operations adhered to the COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Earlier this week, on the day of Vakeel Saab's release in Jogulamba Gadwal in Telangana, self-proclaimed fans of Pawan Kalyan ransacked a theatre. A group of maskless people were seen breaking doors, windows and other infrastructure at Srinivasa Theatre, as the first show was delayed owing to satellite issues.
Incidents of stone-pelting and damage to theatre property were reported in several parts of Andhra Pradesh as well as early benefit shows were cancelled.
Starring Pawan Kalyan in the lead, Vakeel Saab is directed by Sriram Venu. The movie 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.