Actor, director and producer R Narayana Murthy on Saturday debunked the statement of Telugu Desam Party legislator and senior actor Nandamuri Balakrishna that Chiranjeevi had not played any role in prevailing upon former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to resolve the film industry issues.
Narayana Murthy told reports that what Chiranjeevi had said in his statement was “100% true.”
He recalled that he too was among those who had met the former chief minister to represent the industry problems.
He clarified that the YSRCP chief had never insulted the film industry.
“When we met Jagan under the leadership of Chiranjeevi, he accorded us full respect,” he said, stressing that the narrative about Jagan disrespecting Chiranjeevi was false.
He praised Chiranjeevi’s personal gesture of calling him on the phone, describing it as a mark of his culture.
Murthy noted that it was Chiranjeevi’s intervention that resolved industry issues during that meeting. He refused to comment on Balakrishna’s statement.
He urged the present governments in the Telugu states to address the current challenges facing the Telugu film industry.
“I appeal to chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy not to permit hikes in cinema ticket prices,” he said.
Narayana Murthy said cinema is the only medium that gives entertainment to the common man.
“If ticket prices are increased, it will burden ordinary people,” he said, urging both state governments to hold discussions with representatives of the Film Chamber and Producers Council.
He lauded Telangana CM Revanth Reddy for stating that he would not permit ticket price hikes or midnight shows, and urged him to stand by that commitment.
Murthy expressed concern that smaller producers were incurring losses because of government-backed hikes in ticket prices.