Hyderabad: Telugu actors Chiranjeevi, Jr NTR, and Allu Arjun, among others, slammed Telangana Minister Konda Surekha for her alleged remarks linking the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu's to Bharat Rashtra Samiti Working President KT Rama Rao.
The actors shared their posts along with the common hashtag #FilmIndustryWillNotTolerate on X.
In a post on X, Megastar Chiranjeevi criticised Minister Surekha, saying he was "pained to see the disgraceful remarks" and urged "politicians in honourable positions" to set better examples. He added that no one should stoop to this level for "scoring political points by dragging unconnected people."
"I am extremely pained to see the disgraceful remarks made by an honourable woman minister. It is a shame that celebs and members of film fraternity become soft targets as they provide instant reach and attention. We as Film Industry stand united in opposing such vicious verbal assaults on our members. No one should stoop to this level for scoring political points by dragging unconnected people and more so women into their political slug fest and make distasteful fictional allegations," Chiranjeevi said.
Read: https://twitter.com/KChiruTweets/status/1841684462767313169?
"We choose our leaders to make the society a better place to live in, and not contaminate it by lowering the discourse. Politicians and people in honourable positions should set better examples. Trust the concerned will make amends and withdraw these malicious remarks immediately. #FilmIndustryWillNotTolerate," he added.
Actor Jr NTR lashed out at Minister Surekha in a post on X, saying "dragging personal lives into politics is a new low."
"Konda Surekha garu, dragging personal lives into politics is a new low. Public figures, especially those in responsible positions like you, must maintain dignity and respect for privacy. It's disheartening to see baseless statements thrown around carelessly, especially about the film industry," the actor said.
Read: https://twitter.com/tarak9999/status/1841571689982730392?
"We will not sit quietly while others make baseless allegations against us. We should rise above this and maintain respect for each other's boundaries. Let's ensure our society does not normalise such reckless behaviour in democratic India," his post further read.
Among other celebrities who slammed the minister's remarks were actors Allu Arjun, Nani and Khushbu Sundar and director Srikanth Odela.
In a story update on Instagram, actor Allu Arjun condemned the "baseless derogatory comments" made the minister and urged to promote respect and dignity in society.
"I strongly condemn the baseless derogatory comments made about film personalities and film families. This behaviour is deeply disrespectful and goes against the values of our Telugu culture. Such irresponsible actions should not be accepted as normal," Allu Arjun's story update read.
" I urge the parties involved to act more responsibly and respect individual privacy, especially towards women. We must promote respect and dignity in society as a whole," he added.
In a post on X, actor Nani slammed the remarks, calling them "disgusting" to see politicians thinking they can get "away with talking any kind of nonsense," urging everyone to condemn the same.
"Disgusting to see politicians thinking that they can get away talking any kind of nonsense. When your words can be so irresponsible, it's stupid of us to expect that you will have any responsibility for your people. It's not just about actors or cinema. This is not about any political party. It is not okay for someone in such a respectable position to talk such utter baseless rubbish in front of the media and think that it is okay. We all should condemn such practices, which will reflect poorly on our society," Nani said in the post.
Director Srikanth Odela dubbed the remarks "unfortuante," saying that "power and position cannot buy dignity."
"So bloody unfortunate to hear such disgusting comments, especially from a person in a respectable position. This shows that power and position can't buy you dignity. There are enough inhibitions for women who want to work in the film industry and pursue their dreams. Cheap and disgraceful comments like these only increase those fears. Not just in the Telugu film industry, the male-female gender inequalities are everywhere. All women had to do was just rise above those. I sincerely wish for all the women to ignore such derogatory comments and get into the industry to prove everyone wrong," Srikanth Odela said in a post on X.
Read: https://twitter.com/NameisNani/status/1841541476083499197?
"Cinema is an artform. It's okay if you can't respect it, but don't make any effort to disrespect it or its people," he added.
Actor-politician Khushbu Sundar also lashed out at the minister, asking her to "apologise."
This comes after Telangana Minister K Surekha linked former Minister and BRS leader KTR to the divorce of Samantha and Naga Chaitanya, accusing KTR of tapping the phones of actors and blackmailing them.
"It is KT Rama Rao because of whom (actress) Samantha's divorce happened. He was a minister at that time and used to tap the phones of the actresses and then find their weaknesses to blackmail them. He used to make them drug addicts and then do this. Everyone knows this, Samantha, Naga Chaitanya, his family--everybody is aware that such a thing happened," Surekha said while speaking to reporters earlier.
Surekha's remarks sparked massive controversy, with several BRS leaders as well as superstar and Naga Chaitanya's father, Nagarjuna Akkineni, condemning the remarks.
Nagarjuna Akkineni condemned Surekha's remarks, saying that she should not use the lives of movie stars to criticise her opponents, and urged her to respect the privacy of others. Samantha also reacted to the remarks and said that her divorce was a "personal matter."
Following widespread criticism, Konda Surekha clarified her remarks were meant to question KT Rama Rao for "belittling women" and not to hurt Samantha Prabhu's sentiments. She stated that she would "unconditionally" retract her comments if Samantha or her fans were offended by them.
—ANI