Superstar Mahesh Babu, who is currently shooting for his upcoming film Maharshi in the USA, was supposed to have made an appearance at a charity event on the 27th of this month to raise funds for the Movie Artiste Association (MAA) and the NGO Heal-A-Child Foundation. But that event has now been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
According to a source, “After differences arose within the MAA after Chiranjeevi’s event in the USA which also was a flop show the association decided to have a professional event manager organise Mahesh Babu’s event. But a group of people including Srikanth, his friend Vijay, and director Meher Ramesh approached Mahesh’s wife Namrata and told her that they would be able to organise the event in an even better manner. And Namrata chose to give it to them to organise, though she was advised by Naresh, the MAA secretary, not to do so. Now, we hear that less than 20 tickets have been sold.”
This comes as a shocker to Mahesh Babu, who enjoys super star status in Tollywood. Apparently, even with discounts being offered on ticket prices, the organisers haven’t been able to generate a satisfactory response, which is why they have had to cancel the event.
Apparently, Namrata trusts Meher Ramesh, which is why she went ahead with them. And now she’s furious with the shoddy approach that lead to the event being cancelled.
An executive from the MAA says that this is a huge blow to the Association as well, saying, “If Mahesh Babu’s event is getting a poor response, then there is no use trying to organise events with other stars in the USA.”
For the Chiranjeevi event, the organisers paid the MAA Rs 1 crore, and for Mahesh Babu event, they’ve paid Rs 1.5 crore. At this point, it is not clear whether the MAA will return that money or compensate the organisers in some other way. The source says, “Once the team comes from the USA, the matter will be decided in an executive meeting of MAA.” However, the actor, organisers or MAA haven’t made any official statement regarding the matter.
