Responding to the purported satire on him in actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s BRO, Andhra Pradesh’s Minister for Water Resources Ambati Rambabu on Tuesday, August 1 issued a warning to Telugu film directors, producers and actors. Singling out writer and director Trivikram Srinivas, who wrote the screenplay for BRO, Rambabu said, “If you keep repeating this, you will have to learn a lesson. You will have to pay the price.”
Addressing media persons, the minister said, “The film has a character called Shyambabu which I believe was created for Pawan Kalyan’s character to insult and belittle.” Claiming that he had box office figures to show that BRO had been performing poorly, Rambabu launched a scathing attack against Pawan Kalyan and the makers of BRO.
BRO which released on July 28, stars Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, his nephew Sai Dharam Tej, Ketika Sharma and others. The film was directed by Tamil actor and filmmaker Samuthirakani. It is adapted from the 2021 Tamil film Vinodhaya Sitham, also directed by Samuthirakani.
In the film, comedian Prudhvi Raj features in a brief role playing the character Shyam Babu. He is seen dancing wearing clothes similar to what Rambabu wore in the viral Sankranti celebration video. This scene is a subject of ridicule. It is widely perceived that Pawan Kalyan mocked his political rival Rambabu by deliberately designing such a scene.
Rambabu alleged that the producer of BRO, TG Vishwa Prasad, was involved in money laundering. He alleged that the producer had received funds from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supporters in the United States. According to Rambabu, Chandrababu transferred money to Pawan Kalyan by making BRO. Pawan Kalyan, whose JSP is in an alliance with the BJP, has frequently hinted that he is open to allying with the TDP too ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.
When asked for proof of such serious allegations, Rambabu took a dig at Pawan Kalyan and said that he had heard of it from officers of top international intelligence agencies. Pawan Kalyan had recently stirred a controversy in Andhra Pradesh by alleging that government-appointed village volunteers who collect household level data for disbursal of welfare schemes were involved in human trafficking. The Jana Sena chief had claimed that he got this information from intelligence officials.
In an apparent retaliation to the satire in BRO, the Minister went on to declare that he himself was producing a film, and went on to narrate a satirical story about a man who enters the film industry with the help of his movie star brother and becomes a big star himself, and goes on to have a series of failed marriages. The YSRCP has often attacked Pawan Kalyan for having married thrice, bringing it up during political debates as well. He listed a few satirical names for the film such as ‘Nithya pelli koduku’ (Forever a groom), ‘Pellillu petakulu’ (Broken marriages), ‘MRO’ (marriage relations offender) etc. and even invited suggestions from the public. “We want to make the film before elections approach,” he said. It is unclear if he was serious.
Rambabu claimed that he had no problem with outright political satire on the lines of Ram Gopal Varma’s recent films. “Don’t annoy us indirectly. If you have the courage, do it openly,” he said. “Through the media, I want to tell actors, producers, directors, and writers like Trivikram that if you keep doing such things, you’ll have to learn a lesson and pay a price,” he added.
Since Pawan Kalyan resumed working in films in 2021 after a brief hiatus to pursue a political career, his films have been loaded with references to the politics of Andhra Pradesh and his own work and persona as a politician in real life.