Trade bodies felicitate Balakrishna, seek appointment with AP CM

However, an industry source claims that trade body leaders are seeking the support of Balakrishna to meet Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. “Balakrishna assured the delegation that he would get them the appointment with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu sooner than later,” he says. He claims that the Telugu film industry has been reeling under heavy taxes like GST and seeking few exemptions to reduce the burden on producers. “They would seek a cut or refund in state GST and also going to request few more sops for theatre owners to help the industry to survive,” he adds.

Even though location charges in Andhra Pradesh are much cheaper in comparison to Telangana, the industry bigwigs would urge for more support from the AP government to enable hassle-free shootings in picturesque locales in Andhra Pradesh. “It has a lot of tourist spots so they would urge the government to make those spots shooting-friendly where big stars and directors could make their films without any fuss. In turn, those spots shown in the movie would boost tourism,” he points out.

They have a bigger plan to expand the Telugu film industry and would seek infrastructure development in the state. “Permissions for studios and recording theatres and other necessary infrastructure to enable Telugu filmmakers to work from Andhra Pradesh besides Telangana. Thereafter, aspiring Telugu makers and actors from Andhra need not come to Hyderabad. Rather, they could do their work near their homes,” he concludes.