Viral video of Nandamuri Balakrishna pushing Anjali sparks outrage, Hansal Metha leads protest

The pre-release event of Gangs Of Godavari was overshadowed by an unpleasant incident. A video showing seasoned actor Nandamuri Balakrishna pushing actress Anjali at the event has gone viral, sparking massive outrage on social media.

Leading filmmaker Hansal Mehta led the protest against Balakrishna's behaviour towards Anjali. "Who is this scumbag?" tweeted Hansal, reacting to the viral video.

When one social media user explained to Hansal that Balakrishna is one of the top stars of the Telugu film industry, a successful politician, the son of late movie icon NT Rama Rao, and the uncle of RRR star Jr NTR, Hansal doubled down on his initial response. "Scumbag x100," remarked Hansal.

Balakrishna was the chief guest at the pre-release event of Gangs Of Godavari, which is due in cinemas this Friday. He was called on stage for a photo-op with the main cast and crew of the movie. When he arrived on stage, he asked Anjali to move a bit forward so he could stand at the marked spot. Anjali complied, but Balakrishna was not satisfied. In a seeming act of frustration, Balakrishna pushed Anjali, leaving everyone on stage in shock. Anjali quickly tried to laugh off the incident to defuse the situation. The crowd, however, cheered for Balakrishna's behaviour towards Anjali.

Netizens have expressed shock and dismay over the crowd's response to the incident at the event. "The most uncouth fellow... Sadly, women actors have to put up with and pretend to laugh it off, fearing loss of opportunities. And he is a lawmaker," tweeted Bala, a journalist.

"Imagine the outrage if any Bollywood actor did this," tweeted Prayag, a social media influencer.

"Appalling behaviour by Balakrishna and an understandable reaction by the junior artist who laughed it off, but the most horrifying part of this video is the crowd’s reaction to a blatant act of assault, cheering and hooting in approval," said another social media user.

Neither Balakrishna nor Anjali has reacted to the controversy. The duo has worked together in movies like Akhanda and Dictator in the past.

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