The recent twists and turns in Andhra politics have been riveting, much like a Tollywood potboiler. But last week, on the 68th birthday of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the political scene turned murkier. Even as Naidu sat on a day-long hunger strike against the Centre’s ‘indifferent’ attitude towards implementation of the AP Reorganisation Act, Tollywood superstar and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, in a series of tweets, accused his son and IT Minister Lokesh of hatching a conspiracy in collusion with alleged friends in the media to tarnish his image. He has since been on a warpath against the TDP and a few media barons.
The volatile actor isn’t new to controversies. He had earlier staged a protest in front of a newspaper office taking objection to a report. Later, he had surrendered his licenced weapon to the police in full media glare following a dispute involving his brother Chiranjeevi’s daughter. Since then, he has been in the news for high- decibel outbursts against political opponents.
What raised his hackles this time was an expletive used against him by an aspiring actress, who has hit the headlines for her fight against casting couch in Tollywood, at the behest of his bete noire Ram Gopal Varma. She had done so to attract attention to her cause after Pawan suggested she approach the police or the courts. Both Varma and the actress have since apologised but Pawan refuses to forgive or forget.
While he has every reason to be offended, why can’t he follow the same advice he had given to the actress instead of wanting to gag the media and worse, inciting his fans against journalists? Given the context, the media has merely done its duty. Pawan, who advocates caning in public for rapists, should realise he is not only harming the cause of the actress but also his own with his behaviour. Leave alone sympathy, his antics only strengthen the perception that he hasn’t changed one bit over the years.