An article that appeared in the Hyderabad edition of the New Indian Express on May 23 has angered the fans of Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu, who launched a messy Twitter war against the newspaper on Tuesday.
The article had stated that Brahmotsavam, which hit the screens on last Friday, had opened to extremely poor reviews from critics and audience alike. “Such has been the negative response surrounding the film’s release that even Mahesh Babu fans have accepted that the film has been a disaster and urged their star not to accept such movies again…”, the article said. The story also featured screenshots of internet memes about the movie’s failure. This irked fans of the actor.
It is ur ethics to publicise about one star hero #RIPIndianExpress @TV9Telugu @timesofindia @TimesNow @sakshinews pic.twitter.com/jhLsrfygRM
— $UPER$T@Rf@n (@Hari4Superstar) May 24, 2016
A hashtag, #RIPIndianExpress has been trending on Twitter since Tuesday morning, and a group of fans gathered in front of the newspaper’s Hyderabad office in the afternoon, demanding an apology from the newspaper management. The newspaper responded by removing the article from its website. A reliable source told Silverscreen.in that the issue was resolved after leaders of the the fans association met the features editor and deputy resident editor of the newspaper, who agreed to carry an apology in the Wednesday edition of the daily.
Our Fans at @IndianXpressoffice in Hyd. Gave a stong warning to management. #RIPIndianExpress #WeloveMaheshBabu pic.twitter.com/SH6ABBoRoo
— Mahesh Babu News (@MaheshBabuNews) May 24, 2016
Many fans mixed up the Mumbai-based newspaper The Indian Express and The New Indian Express on Twitter, and tagged the former in their tweets expressing displeasure.
please gather at @IndianExpress Hyd office At 6-3-1186, Behind blue moon hotel, Begumpeta, Hyd. All senior fans are coming there. Pls RT
— RipAddala (@SreeHarsha2015) May 24, 2016
#JournalismOfCourage caption for ur newspaper but u proved it as #JournalismForCash idiotic activity #RIpIndianExpress @IndianExpress
— $UPER$T@Rf@n (@Hari4Superstar) May 24, 2016
Brahmotsavam, directed by Srikanth Addala, is a family-drama with Mahesh Babu, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Pranitha Subhash playing the lead roles. The film, according to an International Business Times report, performed worse than any other major 2016 release at the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana box offices. The report said that the first weekend collection of the movie was less than that of another box-office flop, the Pawan Kalyan starrer Sardaar Gabbar Singh.
