TCV in a nutshell

It was a night of sequinned splendour, a night where hundreds of stars, celestial and earthy, dotted the environs of the Hitech City. Shimmering saris and salwars mingled with sleek designer outfits, and expensive perfumes enhanced the wintry air. The excitement was palpable as the Vajrotsavam which were spread over three days took off with an impressive medley of popular numbers. The function acknowledged the growth of a Telugu cinema over the span of 75 glorious years - that of the Indian diaspora - with a very moving speech by the doyen of Indian cinema, Akkineni Nageswara Rao. In the midst of all the celebrations, the industry took out time for felicitating all those who have made an everlasting contribution to Telugu cinema and paid glowing tributes to the late NTR.

There were many special moments at the Vajrotsavam on Friday night but it was marred by a protest staged by the Telugu film journalists. Though the organisers left no stone unturned to see a red carpet welcome was given to the celebrities, a dismal reception of the common man who had bought entry tickets for a whopping price dampened the show. Right from four p.m. onwards the crowds jostled to get inside and confusion prevailed at the entrance points. The Print media was given a shoddy treatment and was asked to occupy the last rows in the expansive hall to cover the show. An overzealous convenor of the show KS Rama Rao’s verbal duel with the journalists drew flak and the latter staged a dharna at the main entrance. The film loving public got into an altercation when they were denied entry after having purchased tickets worth Rs. 5000. A senior artiste Vijay Chander was questioned for welcoming the guests without official authorisation and he left for being humiliated. The Convenor dubbed the journalist’s behaviour as emotional whereas the latter termed it as an insult to Telugu Cinema.

A lot of words have gone into writing the veiled war between Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu that showed the schism is heading towards a split in the industry. Stars became mere mortals on the final day showing their weaknesses. The junior stars who put in some interesting dance performances, skits were not even given credit publicly. Their names were not read out at the beginning of the nor at the end. An actor told the media…”Memu waste chaalamandi ma perulu endhuku chaduvutharu. If we say we don’t want to participate, they will keep that in mind and show their attitude when the time comes.”