While titans clash, Babu stays cool

​Vijayawada: The proverb ‘blood is thicker than water’ seemingly does not influence Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu much when it comes to his brother-in-law Nandamuri Balakrishna’s flick Gautami Putra Satakarni which hit the screen on Thursday.

Instead, Naidu, known as a shrewd political with a standing of nearly four decades, is understood to be pedaling soft towards Congress former minister and megastar’s film ‘Khaidi No 150’ and maintaining equidistance between the two heroes in an apparent bid to take the Kapu sentiment in his stride.

Chiranjeevi continues to be an iconic figure in the numerically strong Kapu community by virtue of his film charisma. His comeback to films after a decade-long hibernation with his latest film rekindles hopes in some sections that the community may become a resurgent group in the AP’s political landscape post-bifurcation.

The caste leaders assert that the Kapus became a predominant group with 22-25 per cent and more strong than the two `ruling’ communities –Reddies and Kammas-- after the bifurcation. The movement launched by former minister Mudragada Padmanabham for reservations for Kapus helped in consolidation of the community and gave an impetus to the caste sentiment.

In this backdrop, according to a former minister from the TDP, the CM seeks to play it safe without rubbing the Kapus on the wrong side just to favour his actor-brother-in-law.

The movies, starred by the two leading Tollywood heroes have been projected as setting the stage for a titanic clash much before their release.

As a clever move, Chandrababu deputed Agriculture Minister Prattipati Pulla Rao and Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas to the pre-release function of the Chiru’s movie to diffuse a volatile situation with caste and political overtones.

It may be recalled that the Chiru’s fans staged a protest accusing the TDP government of using police to prevent the pre-release function in Vijayawada city as part of favouring the Balakrishna-starring GPS (Gautami Putra Satakarni).

Balayya fans felt disheartened on the day of GPS release (Thursday) as the film was opted out by majority of theatres across the State.

According to sources from the AP Film Chambers Association, Balayya’s film was screened in only 600 out of 1,800 theatres all over the State on the first day. But the prospects of ‘Khaidi No 150’ on the first day were quite contrary.

A source in the film chamber said, 600 theatres screened Chiru’s move on its release day and 800 of them continued with it on the second day also. In Eluru in West Godavari district, for instance, ‘Khaidi No 150’ hit all the 10 theatres, triggering worries among the Balayya fans over the prospects of the latter’s movie.

However, TDP former MLA Ambika Krishna, who owns three theatres in Eluru, literally came to Balayya’s rescue by screening GPS in his theatres.

In Krishna district also, 60 per cent of exhibitors preferred ‘Khaidi No150’ over GPS on the latter’s release day. In this context, it is said, a section of distributors with stakes in Balayya’s movie approached CM Naidu seeking to influence the exhibitors in favour of screening GPS.

However, the sources said Chandrabababu was averse to getting into controversy as he thinks that it was not wise to antogonise Kapus. It is learnt that the CM sent a strong signal across the party rank and file to stay away from the film slug fest.

Chiru took a plunge into politics in the run up to the 2009 elections with a slogan of social justice, meaning altering the caste equations in politics. The catchy slogan raised hopes among the emotive Kapus that Chiranjeevi would help their caste carry a tag of ruling class as an alternative for Kammas and Reddies.

But all such hopes came crashing with the mega star receiving a severe drubbing even in his native Palakol Assembly segment. He became docile and defected to the Congress with his flock later.

Galla Subramanyam of Kapu Nadu said if anyone thinks that the Kapu caste will catapult itself to power under the stewardship of Chiru, it is a far-fetched dream given the 2009 experience.

“We are just carried away by emotions and display our caste emotions upon just spotting the cutouts of Balayya or someone from the other dominant caste group. Nothing more than that”, he commented.