BJP's over enthusiasm on 'Vakeel Saab' movie puts party in tight spot

Tirupati: The Bharatiya Janata Party appears to have been caught on the wrong foot in its enthusiasm to please its electoral partner and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, whose latest movie ‘Vakeel Saab’ hit the screens on Friday.

BJP state incharge Sunil Deodhar made a big issue of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government denying permission to arrange special premier shows of the film and enhancing ticket rates for first few days after its release. Taking to Twitter, Deora, who is camping in Tirupati campaigning for the party candidate for the Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll, criticised the state government saying it was vindictive against Pawan Kalyan.

The BJP leader went on to say that Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has to visit the courts every Friday in connection with CBI cases, is naturally afraid of judiciary and ‘vakeel saab’. The government is afraid even of Pawan Kalyan’s movie, he said and exuded confidence that ‘Vakeel Saab’ will become a massive hit and the BJP will win the Tirupati bypoll.

Pawan Kalyan had stopped making movies for almost three years as he was busy with Jana Sena and the Andhra Pradesh general elections in 2019. The movie, a remake of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Pink, was released amidst great fanfare in both the Telugu states.

The state government, however, deviated from the previous practice and denied permission to enhance ticket rates. As the distributors pay exorbitant rates for movie rights of star actors, they abnormally increase the ticket rates to recover their investment. For the premier or benefit shows, they collect as high as Rs 1,000- Rs 1,500 a seat.

The ruling YSR Congress took advantage of the “exploitation” of the movie buffs and turned tables against the BJP. Information and public relations minister Perni Nani wondered why the BJP was batting for rich distributors and producers who mint money exploiting the enthusiastic fans and other movie goers.

The minister also ridiculed the BJP leader linking the party’s victory to the success of ‘Vakeel Saab’, saying that the national party which is running the country had stooped to cheap tricks. He took pot shots at the movie which he said is stale as it was originally made in Hindi and remade in Tamil. “It’s like ’paachi laddu (stale laddu)’, he said, a famous term coined by Pawan Kalyan to protest against the special package announced by the Modi government during the Chandrababu Naidu regime.