'Jalsa' Mania all over the state

Vijayawada: It is increasingly becoming tough for the leaders particularly from the ruling Congress to 'contain' the fans of matinee idol Chiranjeevi ever since reports on his likely entry into the politics hit the headlines.

In a fresh bid to keep Chiranjeevi fans cheering, the Congress leaders are vying with each other to take lease of the theaters where the Pavan Kalyan-starrer 'Jalsa' would be released. "It is a new trend. Earlier, they used to take tickets in large scale for a show or two. But blocking the entire theatre for a week is surprising," admitted an exhibitor Venkateswara Rao.

Vijayawada east legislator Vangaveeti Radhakrisha reportedly blocked the tickets in Sailaja theatre completely for one week and Kankipadu legislator Devineni Nehru is also said to be negotiating with the exhibitors. Sources said Nehru's son is leading a fan club of Chiranjeevi with a support base of a few hundred youth in the city. Interestingly, the pressure on the TDP leaders is also mounting. "The youth are demanding that they should get some tickets at any cost. With theatres are blocked by ruling party leaders, it might be difficult for us to get some tickets. So, we too might have to block a theatre or two," admitted a TDP leader.

The film produced by Allu Aravind is scheduled to be released on April 2 in about 15 theatres in the city. Interestingly, the fight in Guntur, another Kapu-dominant city, appears to be more with almost all the leaders entering into agreements with the producer straightaway.

According to sources, Allu Aravind, who himself manages Krishnamahal theatre, has leased out it to an enthusiastic industrialist Tulasi Ramachandra Prabhu. Prabhu's son is aspiring to jump into politics once Chiranjevvi launches the party. "He is said to have paid Rs 7 lakh to the producer to block tickets for all shows for one week," a Chiranjeevi fan said. Guntur II legislator T Venkata Rao booked Naaz theatre for the first week, while Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao's family took another theatre Hariharamahal into their fold with a sole aim of keep the Chiranjeevi fans happy.

Mayor Kanna Nagaraju, himself a Kapu, entered the fray in the final moments and has started negotiating with the distributors of the Swamy theatre. "It is a clever ploy by the producer to encash his brother-in-law's craze to make his investment safe," observed a former censor board member. Normally, the producers would not interfere once the rights of distribution had been sold out. However, in the case of 'Jalsa', Aravind is reportedly directly dealing with the leaders even after giving away the rights.