Lately, major controversies seem to be tracing their roots back to the film industry in one way or another.
Just recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) uncovered financial irregularities worth over â¹3,000 crore involving Surana Group and Sai Surya Developers — bringing actor Mahesh Babu into the spotlight for having endorsed these companies. The ED even issued him a notice in connection with the case.
Now, a similar stir is unfolding around the Andhra Pradesh liquor case.
Without diving into the legitimacy or scope of the case, or identifying the key accused, one name is repeatedly surfacing — Raj Kasireddy, also known as Kasireddy Rajasekhar Reddy.
Though media reports recently suggested he was missing, Raj was finally taken into police custody. And with his arrest, murmurs have begun in Tollywood — because Raj wasn't just a political insider; he was also a film producer.
During the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy administration, Raj served as an IT advisor and simultaneously ventured into filmmaking.
He launched Red Cinemas and produced a film starring Sumanth. Later, he established another banner — ED Entertainments.
Under this banner, he produced Spy featuring Nikhil Siddhartha, and interestingly, Raj himself was credited for the story. To give his production house a corporate image, he appointed Charan Tej Uppalapati as CEO.
However, creative disagreements between Raj and Nikhil over the release date reportedly led to tensions. The film eventually released with minimal promotion and failed at the box office.
During this period, Raj also explored new film projects, including a biopic on a badminton player. It’s said he even gave advances to a few industry people and made attempts to collaborate with the Mega compound — though those efforts didn’t materialize.
With his recent arrest, questions are now being raised about the source of funding for all these ventures. As investigations deepen, more details are expected to surface, leading to growing unease within Tollywood circles.