It appears senior Tollywood actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and the Congress government led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy are heading for an open confrontation with each other.
Nagarjuna, who has already filed a criminal defamation case against Telangana environment minister Konda Surekha for making derogatory statement on his family in Samantha-Naga Chaitanya divorce episode, announced that he was also getting ready for a simultaneous civil defamation case for Rs 100 crore.
He made it clear in an interview to a national television channel on Friday night.
“Yes, we filed a criminal defamation case against the minister. We are in the process of filing another Rs 100-crore defamation lawsuit against her,” he said.
Nagarjuna said her outrageous comments cannot be allowed to slide under the crack.
“She now says she is withdrawing her remarks. She has apparently apologised to Samantha. What about my family? Not a word of apology to me and to my family,” he fumed.
Apparently, Revanth Reddy has taken seriously Nagarjuna’s threat to sue his cabinet colleague for Rs 100 crore.
On Saturday, there are reports that the state government decided to file a criminal case against Nagarjuna for encroaching upon the Tammidikunta lake and constructing N-Convention Centre at Madhapur, which has since been demolished.
What angered Revanth is the way Nagarjuna has been instigating the entire Telugu film industry against his government in general and Surekha in particular.
“This is no longer personal. The slander has gone far beyond just me and my family. The support we’ve received from the biggest to the smallest of names in the Telugu industry, has made me realise we are in the process of stemming the rot that has seeped into the core of our system,” he said.
Nagarjuna said the political leaders can’t use the Tollywood celebrities for political gains.
“We in the entertainment industry won’t be soft targets anymore. It’s as simple as that. I am hoping that our legal action against the lady will caution other politicians from using our names in a slanderous way,” he said.
He said he was fully aware of the repercussions and was ready for the fight ahead.
“This is not an easy year for mer. Problems are piling up one after another. I though the last one was the last. Fortunately, the entire Telugu film industry has come forward to stand by me,” he said.