The ongoing T-agitation has taken a toll on the Telugu industry. Already films like 'Arya2' and 'Saleem' have been boycotted in the Telangana region after Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu came out in open for a United Andhra. The release of 'Adhurs' has been put on hold, fearing backlash in the region. Freshly, KCR, the leader of TRS, told the media that artistes and filmmakers from the region are capable of churning out entertainment themselves and that they will never watch 'their' films.
Though the political turmoil should have nothing to do with films, the Statehood politics is steadily making its way into the realm of cinema. In this context, how justified is it to boycott entertainers and their output, on any pretext? Should Telanganites be entertained only by those born in the region?
That the people of the region have patronised Telugu films since decades is indisputable. Dividing them on regional basis smacks of parochialism, is what many in the Hyderabad film industry opine. Does not the mammoth and super-rich Tollywood industry feed thousands of cine workers many of whom hail from the Telangana?
Are we Indians not entertained by Pakistani musicians and singers? Should we boycott them on the pretext that the country they hail from the country that abets terror in India? Is politicization of entertainment justified?
