Highlights of Katamarayudu Pre-release event

he pre-release event of ‘Katamarayudu’ had some unexpected and a number of fanboy moments. For the first time, a filmi event related to Pawan Kalyan had so much political touch. 

It all began with AM Ratnam saying that Pawan’s three or so movies before he takes up full-time politics should become huge hits. 

Ravi Prakash, the CEO of TV9, took everybody by surprise when he praised Pawan for speaking up against the Centre’s failure to confer Special Category Status on AP and Demonetization. He added that Pawan hasn’t desired any position even though he played a crucial role in the run-up to the 2014 polls. When it was Pawan’s turn, he first mentioned Ravi’s name. 

Bandla Ganesh, a die-hard Power Star loyalist, said that he had never liked Ravi Prakash, but after listening to his speech, he had a change of mind! “My name is Bandla Ganesh.. And Pawan Kalyan is my God,” he said like a devotee! True to his style, Ganesh compared his idol to greatest freedom fighters ranging from Bose to Lala Lajpath Rai! His speech had Pawan blushing, giggling and laughing out loud. 

Ali raised a few eyebrows by talking about how ‘Pedarayudu’ was a blockbuster like NTR’s ‘Sardaar Paparayudu’. Mohan Babu’s film getting referred is something the fans of the two stars must have found very interesting!

The Audio-Visual special made to celebrate Pawan’s 20 years of film career was a disappointment. It visibly didn’t excite the crowds much. 

Pawan’s new avatar as a brand ambassador for hand loom weaving was mentioned more than a few times by the anchors Suma and Ali. Apparently, the actor coming in ‘pancha kattu’ got a thumbs-up. 

Narendra Chowdary of NTV threw up a surprise by referring to Pawan as ‘Andhra Katamarayudu’. Just to make sure the description got properly registered in the viewers’ mind, he said it twice…

It was a male-all event, with Shruti Haasan not turning up. Although Manasa Himavarsha, the ‘maradalu’ of ‘Katamarayudu’, was present, she made do with a short group performance and that’s all.

Director Kishore Pardasani (Dolly) came in for praise from Pawan himself. His sense of humour is unique, Power Star suggested. 

The trailer was unveiled by Trivikram, who, during his powerful speech, likened Pawan to a tree which bestows everything, but stands still and silent. He quoted one of Pawan’s favourite poets when he said, ‘Ayanaku oka deshapu jhanda ku unnantha pogaru undhi”, the celebrated writer said as fans cheered with pride. As always, Trivikram’s speech came as a feast for the die-hard fans out there.

The hero revealed half of the story-line. “I (Katamarayudu) don’t like women in the movie. My brothers (played by Ajay, Shiva Balaji, Kamal Kamaraju and Chaitanya) devise a plan to draw me into love. That’s the story,” Pawan said.