As Tollywood is bringing the curtains down on 2016 with the mega audio release function of Nandamuri Balakrishna’s 100th flick Gautamiputra Satakarni ’ the temple city teemed with a crowd of unprecedented scale.
Mr. Balakrishna chose the topic of the Andhra emperor for his landmark film, which is all set for release on Sankranti.
All roads led to Alipiri on Monday to witness the function held at Sri Pandit Nehru Municipal Corporation High School Grounds.
Cut-outs of the dashing hero in his historical costume and the inimitable drooping moustache, along with the magical words ‘NBK 100’, were ubiquitous at the venue. The film’s star cast Hemamalini, Shriya Saran, lyricist Sirivennela Seetharama Sastri and director Krish added to the attraction.
It is no secret that Balakrishna enjoys huge fan patronage in Rayalaseema, going by the tremendous response witnessed by his runaway hits Samarasimha Reddy , Narasimha Naidu and Chennakesava Reddy in the ceded districts.
In fact, another record was silently created on Monday with his blockbuster Legend movie celebrating its 1,005th day, running successfully in Archana Theatre in Proddatur town of Kadapa district.
“Even as Legend scripts history, we are thrilled to be here for the audio release function,” said Meda Obul Reddy, a fan from Kadapa district.
Ahead of the audio release function, a team of fans toured 100 pilgrim centres and reached Tirupati for the event.
The event organisers also released a QR code for the film, whereby the fans can scan the code with their smartphone and gain access to the contests running on the website www.gautamiputrasatakarni.com.
Traffic goes haywire
This is said to be the first Telugu film to use the QR code technology to give access to the teasers, official Facebook page, gallery and songs page etc.
As Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu arrived to release the audio of his brother-in-law’s film, the police had a tough time regulating the traffic. People proceeding to and from Tirumala hills faced problems in negotiating the traffic snarls.
Traffic still went haywire between Ramanuja Circle and Alipiri, a distance of 3 km, when Mr. Balakrishna arrived at the venue in a procession in an open-top jeep.
