With two big-ticket films – Khaidi No. 150 and Gautami Putra Satakarni – slated for release simultaneously on the eve of Sankranti festival, the Andhra Pradesh government seems to have woken up to the reality that there could be clashes between fans of Chiranjeevi and Nandamuri Balakrishna.
The government has alerted the police department in this regard and Director General of Police N Sambasiva Rao held a review meeting in Vijayawada on Saturday exclusively to discuss the issue of a probable law and order problem arising out of the release of the two films.
Since Khaidi No. 150 is the 150th film of the megastar and Gautami Putra Satakarni is the 100th film of Balakrishna, there is every possibility that it would create a frenzy among the fans of both the top heroes.
The DGP gave a stern warning to fans of the two heroes to maintain restraint. If they display any overenthusiasm like garlanding of portraits and cut-outs of their respective heroes and damaging the publicity material of the other hero, they would be thrown behind the bars.
The police would keep a strict vigil on the fans associations and if necessary, they might even resort to preventive arrests of possible rioters.
Andhra region is known for extreme reactions of the fans’ associations whenever the films of their favourite heroes are released. That is why the police are taking double precautions.
