BJP in Fear Of George Reddy’s Film Release?

HYDERABAD: Controversial BJP MLA from Goshamahal assembly constituency in Hyderabad, Raja Singh made a statement on Tuesday that he would not hesitate to stall the new Telugu film 'George Reddy', based on the student leader who was murdered in Osmania University in the 70s. The film is slated for release on November 22.

In a statement here, Raja Singh said that he has no objection to the film, but it should only show facts. However, if there were any portions of the film which insulted the unions linked to the BJP, he would stall the film's screenings. The MLA blamed George Reddy for the alleged attacks on ABVP leaders during the period when the student leader was active in student politics and stated that it was the Congress, which was in power at the time of his murder.

George Reddy is a film based on the life of George Reddy, a students' leader in Osmania University of Hyderabad who fought against inequality and discrimination, and was murdered in 1972.

The hype around George Reddy has picked up pace after the release of the film trailer last month on October 8th.

A cult figure on the Osmania Campus, George Reddy was akin to Ernesto Che Guevara the leftist revolutionary who fought along with Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution.

George Reddy was a research scholar in Physics at Osmania University during the early 70's. He was also the founding member of the Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU).

Being a leftist leader, he gained lot of attention for his Marxist ideologies and was known to fight for the cause of students from weaker backgrounds.

It is said that George Reddy was murdered by the opposition group on April 14 of 1972 at University’s Engineering College hostel-1. It is alleged that they belonged to the BJP, RSS and Sangh Pariwar, that was allegedly funded by a Right-wing party.

Incidentally, PV Narasimha Rao was the Chief Minister at that time of erstwhile United Andhra Pradesh, when he was murdered. All this lead to speculations that it was a pre-planned murder, as George Reddy was emerging as a strong leader and could have probably been a strong force to reckon with by the Right Wing forces.

The biopic’s trailer shows the political journey of the famed political leader, whose life was tragically cut-short at a young age of 25. Thanks to the trailer, many of his friends and associates are coming out in the open and on social media to talk about their association with the leader and share anecdotes about him, and how he touched people's lives.

Many of them still remember his slogan: “ Jeena hai toh marna seekho/ kadam kadam par ladna seeko" which is roughly translated to 'Learn to die if you wish to live/learn to fight at every step of the way.'

Central Board of Film Certificate (CBFC) has also certified the film as U/A with a run time of more than 2 1/2 hours. The film, starring Sandeep Madhav (of RGV's Vangaveeti fame) and Satyadev Kancharana is directed by B Jeevan Reddy and produced by Appi Reddy, Sanjay Reddy, Damu Reddy and Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti. Music is by Suresh Bobbili and the film is set for a worldwide release on November 22.

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