Prominent Telugu film producer Dil Raju on Wednesday openly nailed Tollywood hero and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan’s claim that he had raised the issue of online ticketing only on the request of Telugu film industry.
Speaking at the Jana Sena party meeting at Mangalagiri in the afternoon, Pawan Kalyan said he had spoken about the online ticketing issue at a pre-release event of his nephew Sai Dharam Teja’s upcoming film, only when the film industry people requested him.
“How can the government interfere in the private business?” he asked.
But Dil Raju, who led a delegation of Telugu film producers to hold a meeting with Andhra Pradesh information and public relations minister Perni Nani in the evening, clarified to the media that it was the film industry which had asked for online ticketing system in cinema theatres.
“A delegation of film industry comprising Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Rajamouli, me and others had made the request in our earlier meeting with chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, while representing the problems of film industry,” Dil Raju asserted.
Stating that online cinema ticketing would bring in a kind of transparency in the system, the top producer said the AP government had positively responded to the request of the industry.
“Kindly keep the industry away from controversies,” he said.
Responding to the Jagan government’s decision not to allow additional shows and increase of ticket rates during the release of Vakeel Saab, Dil Raju refused to go into the controversy.
“Certain developments took place during the releae of Vakeel Saab very fast. But that is past,” he said.
