T Filmmakers Shocking Allegations, What’s The Truth?

Telangana filmmakers made surprising revelation alleging regional discrimination. They say while Telangana people appreciate all kinds of films, people of Andhra Pradesh do not appreciate the films they take. They requested the Telangana government to provide subsidies and sops to encourage local talent.

Telangana director Jeevan Reddy who shot to fame with George Reddy, revealed that he will be making a web series in Hindi as Bollywood recognizes talent. He said he did not get any offers after George Reddy though the film got good reviews. He added at the same time, he got a fancy offer from Bollywood production house and he feels that they have judged his talent and did not go as per the region.

He said except Chiranjeevi no one else congratulated him for George Reddy. He alleged that many top directors promote substandard films made by AP directors but they did not even come with a single tweet for his film George Reddy, a film based on the iconic student leaders of Telangana. He asked the Telangana government to support Telangana movies just like Maharashtra government.

He pointed out that Marathi cinema prospered thanks to the support of the Maharashtra government which protected the Marathi culture, dialect and nativity. He said Marathi films even went on to win the national awards.

KVR Mahendra who shot to fame with Dorasani says Telangana has a distinct identity and flavor and pointed out films like Maa Bhoomi, Daasi, Komaram Bheem, Batukamma, and Erra Sainyam. He said the industry is losing sheen due to lack of support. He said he received the appreciation from legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal who called him after watching his 14-minute short film Nisheedhi in 2015.

Raj Kandukuri who introduced Tharun Bhasker and Vijay Deverakonda says there is lot of untapped talent and requested the government to provide subsidies for the films which come with a budget of Rs 1-1.5crs, tourism authorities refund 40% of the shooting expenses and the same is the case with Azerbaijan.

Director Prem Raj, president of the Telangana Cinema Industry Employees Federation says only 40-45% of the employees are hired by the Telugu filmmakers and few are even threatened and bullied. He said he did not approve Tammareddy Bharadwaj's comments questioning the need for a separate Telangana workers Union. He said probably he is talking on behalf of hundreds of AP born filmmakers and wanted to chase them out of the state. He alleged that 3000 Telangana film workers did not get a supply of essentials during the lockdown initiated by the MAA.

He said only Telangana state minister distributed groceries to 150 out of the 3000 workers and added he however distributed supplies to the 14000 members of the rival federation.

Vishnu Induri says though Rajamouli comes from Telangana, he is respected across the country for his talent. He said people have their freedom to pick their favorite stars. He added that there is no discrimination based on region as there are many new directors, producers, and actors making waves in Tollywood.