CHENNAI: In a city known for a plethora of statues, this one stands out. For it is a private initiative, a family’s tribute to a famous actor. But then it also steps out into the platform, reducing the walking space on the pavement.
The statue of actor Sobhan Babu, installed by his family in their private land, has seemingly encroached into public space as the platform on which its podium stands protrudes out of the compound wall taking up a bit of the walkway, inconveniencing pedestrians who have to step down on the road if two walk side by side.
Erected at the corner where Mehta Nagar First Main Road, off Nelson Manickam Road, starts, the statue looks into the junction from within the premises that is owned by the former Telugu actor’s family.
For passers by, the statue even looks like a regular one put up with government patronage. Perhaps that is one reason why no one has lodged an official complaint about the inconvenience. However, enquires reveal that the corner plot belonged to Sobhan Babu, who lived in Chennai during his hey days and was also an icon for moviegoers. His family that inherited the land wanted to erect the statue to perpetuate his memory.
As a result, you find the handsome late actor in full suit. It resembles a regular roadside statue of famous politicians, leaders, poets and others installed in public places like the Marina or the traffic islands in major intersections with the pedestal on which details about the actor are engraved.
But the fact that a private project has encroached upon common space has gone unnoticed, though people in the locality using the pavement are complaining about it.
Enquiries with the Corporation officials however revealed that they have not noticed the encroachment. “It is in their land, no public space has been encroached upon,” a Corporation official said. Sobhan Babu, who was born on January 14, 1937, in Nandigama in Andhra Pradesh, died in Chennai on March 20, 2008. During his time, he was a top star in Tollywood, acting in more than 200 films.