Telangana: Films, stars, politics, police and a death in Hyderabad

It had all the ingredients of a potboiler: a powerful politician, a popular superstar whose recent film set the record for India’s most successful film ever and a cast of supporting actors consisting of high-ranking police officers, influential film families and powerful political dynasties spanning the two Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The main dramatis personae in this story are, of course, chief minister Anumula Revanth Reddy and film star Allu Arjun, whose film Pushpa 2: The Rule has set the box office on fire across the country.

The stage setting: the stampede at the Sandhya cinema in Hyderabad, in which a woman was killed when a milling crowd went into a frenzy on seeing the protagonist of the film at the screening.

A quick recap of the events: Pushpa 2, one of the most awaited films of 2024, was scheduled to hit the screens on 5 December.

On 4 December, the publicity team organised a pre-release special show at the Sandhya theatre in Hyderabad. Allu Arjun and his co-star Rashmika Mandanna arrived to take part, setting off a fan frenzy. In the resulting crush, a woman — Revathi — lost her life; her son was left in a coma [he has since recovered].

Within hours, the police filed cases against the star, the cinema managers and others, charging them with ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’, a fairly serious offence.

Two days later, Allu Arjun issued a statement expressing profound regret and offering to compensate the family adequately for the loss.

However, on 9 December, police arrested three people, including the Sandhya theatre owner.

Anticipating arrest, the actor went to the Telangana High Court on 12 December to seek cancellation of the charges against him.

But the next day, 13 December, police arrived at his home anyway. He was given just time to change — he put on a hoodie with the iconic dialogue from Pushpa “flower nahin, mein aag hoon [I am a fire, not a flower]’ — and was taken away.

A judge remanded him to 14 days custody, but the high court granted him interim bail and he was released the next day, 14 Dcember; but he had to spend that one night in jail.

Now, this is where things get murky.

After his arrest, a letter from the theatre managers requesting police presence for the premiere emerged mysteriously. Meanwhile, chief minister Revanth Reddy was quoted as saying, “It’s not as if they were returning from fighting a war on the Indo-Pak border.”

It was just business for them, he said, accusing Allu Arjun of recklessly endangering lives with his behaviour — like leaning out of his car sunroof to greet fans. This had led to the crowd surge with fatal consequences, he charged.

These were strong words from a chief minister regarding a Telugu superstar; in general politicians do not target film stars given the symbiotic relationship between politics and cinema in the South, especially in Tamil Nadu and the Telugu-speaking states.

Allu Arjun denied the allegations, and a slew of Telugu stars came to visit him and offer support. Many were concerned that he was singled out for prosecution, saying he could not be held responsible for the stampede.

The controversy echoed in the state legislative assembly as well on 21 December, when the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi made the incendiary charge that Allu Arjun had callously gloated that his film would be a hit after being told of the stampede death (in fact, it was a hit from Day 1).

Revanth Reddy accused the actor of not heeding police advice to leave the cinema and continuing with his roadshow. Police released video footage of the event to buttress their claim that Allu Arjun did not leave the venue even after being told of the stampede.

The star’s response was that he was the victim of ‘character assassination’.

On 22 December, the star’s house was vandalised by a mob. Several people were arrested, one of them reportedly an aide of Revanth Reddy.

The CM condemned the incident and ordered police protection for the actor and his family.

Two days later, 24 December, Allu Arjun answered a police summons for questioning, where he was grilled for three hours.

On Friday, 27 December, he made a virtual appearance before the court; further proceedings in the remand petition have been scheduled for 10 January.

The film industry, while standing by one of their own, were wary in their approach. They certainly did not want to antagonise chief minister Revanth Reddy and arranged a meeting with him.

Well-known film stars Nagarjuna and Venkatesh were part of the delegation that included also Allu Arvind, Allu Arjun’s father.

The chief minister, while striking a conciliatory note, assuring the film delegation of the government’s full support and his desire to make Hyderabad a world-class destination for film production, did not mince his words as to how he expected the film personalities to behave.

In line with his uncompromising reputation, Revanth Reddy — who led the Congress to power in the last assembly elections — took decisive action against land encroachment as he came to power, not hesitating to act against big names. So perhaps in this too, he has not in fact been uncharacteristically 'tough'.

HYDRA, the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection, set up by the CM to tackle encroachments — especially of nallahs and water bodies — made news when it demolished the N Convention Hall, a city fixture that had hosted high-profile weddings and other functions. The hall was owned by Nagarjuna, the film star.

Further political reactions to the stampede and arrest have been divided.

The opposition Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) of former CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao and the BJP have condemned the arrest. However, there has been no reaction from Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party leader Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, himself an actor and related to Allu Arjun through marriage, had no words of comfort for his famous relative either. He told reporters that it would have been better if the actor had visited the bereaved family to show his concern.

He also backed Revanth Reddy and the Hyderabad police, saying they were only discharging their duties and there was nothing wrong with what they did: “That is Revanth Reddy. Even if I were involved, he would have acted the same way… It would have been better if someone from the industry or the family had met the family of the deceased and offered condolences and help.”

In the aftermath of the incident, there have been reports of a Telangana–Andhra divide as well, however.

It should be noted that the major film stars and studios are all of Andhra origin, especially the Allu and Konidela clans who dominate the film industry; but the studios themselves are in Hyderabad.

This came to be highlighted when a Congress MLA openly warned the ‘Andhrawallahs’ to behave. Bhupathi Reddy, the MLA, asked, “What have you people done for Telangana? Be careful, or we won’t even let your films release here.”

Andhra politicians countered by asking the industry to shift to their state, promising full backing.

The ego of Alluru Arjun after the heady success of the film, which grossed Rs 1,400 crore in the first two weeks of release, led to the standoff, many others believe.

This was the position unequivocally stated by film producer Tammareddy Bharadwaj, who said the film star’s ego had forced the entire film industry to bow down before the chief minister — he was referring to the film industry representatives' meeting with Revanth Reddy.

To the delegation of 21 producers, 13 directors and 11 actors, Revanth Reddy had recommended that they behave with restraint and not overreach themselves.

Bharadwaj added that the film stars may be treated like gods by their fans, but need to remember they’re just human beings like everyone else. It’s a lesson the industry has had to learn the hard way.