Hyderabad, March 06: Actor Raja who shot to fame with the hit movie, Anand, is once again in the spotlight but for different reasons now.
First, he caused a stir by publicly accusing the big producers of Tollywood of keeping the majority of the cinemas under their control thereby denying an opportunity to small producers to screen their films there. He even took the case to the State Human Rights Commission.
Then, he made the headlines again with the news that he had attempted suicide.
Scotching rumours on his `suicide attempt’ as `utter nonsense’, Raja told Expresso, “For the past two days I have been busy with interviews in media, meeting HRC officials and visiting theatres.
It really upsets me that such a nasty rumour has come up at this juncture. I am not a coward to resort to such extreme steps. I have been getting calls from my friends and well-wishers after they heard of this rumour. But I am focused on my issue and such things can’t deter me. I don’t know who is behind this, but they should understand that it’s not done in good taste.” Raja had lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission alleging that small-budget films were not being allowed to screen in many theatres as the cinemas were under the influence of established producers who wielded considerable influence in film industry. Expressing apprehensions that the new development could have been engineered to sideline the actual issue, the actor said: “As of now, I am not in a position to think. I will take a decision on what action to take on the rumours soon.” The Human Rights Commission has reportedly informed the actor that the case was not under its jurisdiction and referred him to a separate body which deals with monopolies and restrictive trade practices.
—Agencies