Balagam Director, Comedian Venu Tillu REACTS To Plagiarism Allegations; Says 'I Worked On The Story For..'

Comedian-turned-director Venu Tillu, aka Venu Yeldandi is the happiest person right now. His directorial debut starring Priyadarsi Pulikonda and Kavya Kalyanram in lead roles, 'Balagam', which was released on March 3, is met with widespread positive word-of-mouth. The movie is receiving positive reviews for its story, narration, performances, nativity, and technical aspects. Venu Tillu, as the writer-director is being appreciated for the same.

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Following the success of Balagam, a small-budget movie consisting of no superstars, ace producer Dil Raju, who was quite impressed with the film's outcome offered to produce a movie with Venu Yeldandi as its director. Meanwhile, while all the acclaim and appreciation is coming his way, Venu is also slapped with plagiarism allegations. A writer-journalist by the name of Gaddam Satish claimed to have written the story which was published in 'Pacchiki' in 2011 already. Satish accused Venu of making minute changes to the story he had written and directed Balagam as his story.

Clarifying the issue, Venu Yeldandi talking to the media said, "I worked for six years on the story and researched a lot to make it what it is today on the silver screen. I have never come across a story that was once published. Moreover, the incidents are all from my family." He further elaborated that the story was inspired by the time when his father died, and first narrated the story of 'Jathirathnalu' director Anudeep KV. I went around so many villages and spoke to people to back my story point. Every person has an approach to an issue and Satish trying to sabotage the film at this point isn't good."

Venu further questioned Gaddam Satish, why he has not approached the Writers' Association if his accusations are true.

Balagam charts the life of Sailu (Saayilu), played by Priyadarsi, who is the grandson of Komurayya and belongs to a rural village in Telangana. The twist in the tale arises when Komurayya passes away and Sailu's plans of marrying his uncle's daughter and clearing off his debts collide. Meanwhile, the family members of Komurayya fail to satisfy the soul of Komurayya. How and what happens next is to be seen on the big screen.

Balagam's cinematography was handled by Acharya Venu. Bheems Ceciroleo, who secured a blockbuster hit with 'Dhamaka' starring Ravi Teja, composed the film's entire soundtrack and tunes. Hanshitha Reddy and Harshith Reddy bankrolled the film.