Chiru-Pawan fissures come to fore

HYDERABAD: Nagendra Babu, actor and Chiranjeevi's brother, flew off the handle at the 'inappropriate' behaviour of the fans of his younger brother and Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader Pawan Kalyan here on Friday night. This was the first time that an otherwise cool and composed Nagendra Babu openly gave vent to his feelings.
Chiranjeevi's fans organized the 60th birthday celebrations of the star-turned-politician at Shilpa Kala Vedika at Madhapur and Nagendra Babu, the middle of the three brothers, was invited as chief guest.What annoyed Naga Babu was a section of fans loudly shouting Pawan Kalyan's name. They even demanded that the actor make an appearance.
Miffed at this, Nagendra Babu took to the mike and shouted back: "If you have the guts, go and get him to the function... You do not know how many times I went to invite him. If he does not want to come, what else can we do? I have more regard for Pawan Kalyan than you all. But what else do you expect us to do when he chose not to come?"
Chided in this way, the fans were taken aback, but some of them continued to shout. Nagendra Babu then challenged them to go to Pawan Kalyan's office and raise slogans there. "It has become a habit with you to come to functions and disturb the proceedings by shouting Pawan Kalyan's name. We have tolerated this enough. This cannot go on," the actor, boiling with rage, said.
What this brings to the fore is the fact that all is not hunky dory between Chiranjeevi and his younger brother Pawan Kalyan. While Chiranjeevi is a Congress Rajya Sabha member, Pawan Kalyan floated his own outfit and supported the BJP-TDP by campaigning for them in the 2014 elections. Pawan had solidly stood behind his brother in the 2009 elections.
Meanwhile, at midnight, Chiranjeevi, who joined in the celebrations, cut a cake. His family members, including actor-son Ramcharan Tej, nephew Allu Arjun, brother-in-law Allu Aravind and others participated. And in a curious turn of events, Pawan Kalyan drove down to Chiranjeevi's residence to greet him.
Another round of celebrations with Bollywood stars in attendance was planned for Saturday night. 'Chiranjeevi dosa', which the megastar is known to serve his guests at his home, will also be served to the guests. In fact, sources say, there is a proposal to patent the dosa.
On the occasion of Chiranjeevi's birthday on Saturday, his wife Surekha and daughter Sushmita visited a temple at Filmnagar and performed pooja. They thanked the megastars fans for being a support to Chiranjeevi.