If you’ve been on the internet in the last few hours, you’ve seen the video of Nandamuri Balakrishna shoving Anjali on stage at the pre-release event of Gangs of Godavari by now. For the unversed, the actor wanted her to move out of the way, and when she didn’t do it fast enough, he gave her a push that almost made her fall down. Neha Sshetty, who was standing near Anjali, looked shocked and then chuckled awkwardly. 

But according to Anjali’s co-star Vishwak Sen and producer Naga Vamsi, the shove was ‘no big deal’. The duo held a press meet to discuss the film and addressed the controversy there, justifying Balakrishna’s behaviour.

‘Balakrishna is a good man’

Actor Vishwak Sen got sarcastic while speaking to the press, stating that it was all manufactured drama over ‘nothing serious’. He justified Balakrishna as a ‘good man’ and claimed that people weren’t discussing what happened before and after the shove.

Vishwak said, “He (Balakrishna) is such a good man, he will take something serious also jovially. We also need to understand what needs to be taken seriously and what need not,” implying that people were making it a more significant issue than it is. He added, “Everyone is reacting only to a portion of the video; no one saw what happened after (he shoved Anjali).” He implied that because Anjali laughed it off, it was okay.

‘It was a casual push’

Producer Vamsi chipped in to justify the behaviour further. In a bid to explain it away, he said, “Suppose there are three people, suppose I ask you to move and you don’t, so I casually push you. That’s all that happened there. This is happening because people have planned to turn it into a controversy,” referring to the backlash. He also pointed out, “They high-fived each other after, why is no one talking about that.”

Some social media users also shared videos on X (formerly Twitter) claiming that Balakrishna had two bottles next to him at the event and one of them was filled with liquor. Talking about that, Vamsi ridiculously suggested that someone used ‘CGI’ to show the bottles near him, “People are also claiming that Balakrishna had a bottle of liquor near him, someone made that clip with CGI. I know he had no bottles near him because I organised the event.”

Celebs call out Balakrishna

After numerous people on social media, including X, Instagram and Reddit pointed out that Balakrishna’s behaviour was problematic, the video caught the eye of celebs too. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta shared the clip on X, writing, “Who is this scumbag?” Nakuul Mehta wrote, “Not one person expressed their discomfort. Not one. Ridiculous behaviour by the gent.”

Chinmayi called out those pointing out that Anjali laughed after getting shoved. She wrote on X, “Society itself refuses to hold men in power who misbehave responsible; Especially when they come from money, caste and political power. Don't come and tell women what to say and how to behave when you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

Telugucinema