The
Tamil
Nadu
Telugu
Yuvasakti
association
is
unhappy
with
Vadivelu-starrer
Tamil
period-comedy
Thenaliraman
for
allegedly
portraying
Telugu
folk
hero
Thenaliraman
and
king
Krishnadevaraya
in
poor
light.
They
are
seeking
the
state
government's
intervention
in
the
matter,
but
the
film's
lead
actor
Vadivelu
says
he
is
playing
a
fictional
character.
Several
other
Telugu
groups
too
have
united
to
raise
their
voice
against
the
film's
release
on
April
18.
"We
have
seen
the
film's
trailer
and
we
are
not
happy
with
the
way
two
prominent
historic
characters
of
our
culture
have
been
portrayed.
If
the
film
is
released,
it
will
hurt
the
sentiments
of
Telugu
people
across
the
world.
We
now
plan
to
take
this
up
with
the
state
government," K
Jagadeswara
Reddy,
president,
Tamil
Nadu
Telugu
Yuvasakti,
told
IANS.
"We
have
already
submitted
petitions
to
several
government
officials
and
have
requested
for
a
meeting
with
the
state
governor
soon.
Several
other
Telugu
groups
have
also
joined
hands
in
the
matter
because
it
is
a
concern
of
the
entire
Telugu
community,"
he
added.
Ever
since
the
film
was
announced,
the
makers
have
been
promoting
Vadivelu
in
a
double
role
as
Krishnadevaraya
as
well
as
Thenaliraman.
But
when
the
controversy
erupted,
Vadivelu
clarified
and
said
he
is
playing
fictional
character
Mannar
and
not
Krishnadevaraya
in
the
film.
"I'm
playing
the
role
of
a
fictional
king
called
Mannar.
The
Thenaliraman
character
has
the
wit
of
the
popular
folk
hero.
We
have
not
tried
to
hurt
anybody's
sentiment,"
Vadivelu
said.
The
film
Thenaliraman,
produced
by
AGS
Entertainment,
also
features
Radha
Ravi,
Meenakshi
Dixit,
Manobala
and
Bala
Singh
in
important
roles.