The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Film industry shocked

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Saturday, Jun 05, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Film industry shocked

By K.V.S. Madhav

HYDERABAD, JUNE 4. Never again. That was the word on every Telugu film personality's lips as the shock of film star Balakrishna allegedly shooting his aides - producer Bellamkonda Suresh and astrologer, Choudhary - began to sink in. If the Jubilee Hills blast five years back at the muhurat of a Mohan Babu film was a tremor of sorts, Thursday's shoot-out was a violent earthquake that shook the Telugu film industry to the core.

Even as memories of the infamous shoot-out between erstwhile Tamil film villain M.R. Radha and matinee idol, MGR, began to surface, people of Andhra Pradesh on Friday woke up to the shocking news of Balakrishna allegedly pulling the trigger on his aides.

For them, Balakrishna with his big smile was a happy-go-lucky man who loved films and fans. Like his legendary father, his love for the Telugu language and culture brought him closer to the Telugus and passion for acting to the icy heights of stardom. But Thursday night, just a week away from his 44th birthday, all the vanities of the hero-centric world of stardom burst out in a fusillade of bullets, two of them that pierced through Suresh and Choudhary.

That Balakrishna himself had allegedly shot at his closest aides was something that was indigestible to the industry people. "Astrologer Choudhary was his right hand man. Balakrishna was extremely superstitious and would not venture out of the house or sign on a dotted line without his clearance. This is startling," an industry observer said.

Only a day before the shootout, Balayya had convened a press conference to announce his recovery from an injury he sustained while shooting in Jodhpur. He also announced that he would be celebrating his birthday on June 10 with fans to ensure that they overcome the disappointment of he having no summer release this year.

What triggered the shootout is still a mystery, but the incident is a stark reflection of the Telugu film industry driven by the larger than life images and super egos of stars. With casteism, groupism and sycophancy stirring the boiling cauldron of star egos, there's the ticking time bomb called star rage that could explode without a provocation.

Industry sources believe that Balakrishna was sore at Bellamkonda Suresh and Choudhary as they tried to persuade him to shelve his dream directorial project, `Nartanasala,' a remake of the 60s classic. Suresh apparently had invested a bomb in buying the remake rights of various Tamil and Malayalam films, some of which in the production stage itself, and suffered huge losses as the films bombed at the box office there. He reportedly eased himself out of `Nartanasala' and put some other producer in his place.

Balakrishna is rumoured to have refused to act in the remake of the Tamil film, `Arul', for which Bellamkonda had paid a fancy price. Balakrishna was also reportedly displeased with him over the publicity of their last film, `Lakshmi Narasimha' that created a furore among his fans.

The Telugu Film Producers' Council termed unfortunate the shoot-out. In a statement on Friday, it hoped such incidents would not recur.

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