Tollywood denounces Mumbai attack, takes out march In Hyd

The Telugu film industry organised a march, denouncing the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike and expressing solidarity with the armed forces which successfully eliminated the terrorists and saved many innocent lives, on Sunday.

Thespian Akkineni Nageswara Rao, veteran actress Jamuna, stars Murali Mohan, Nandamuri Balakrishna, Rajendra Prasad, Rajasekhar, Jeevita, Jagapathi Babu, Srikanth, Roja, Ravi Teja, Raja, Ramcharan Tej, director K Raghavendra Rao and a
host of others took part in the march from Ravindra Bharati auditorium to the state assembly premises, where tribute was paid to Mahatma Gandhi.

The industry bigwigs also paid tributes to the security officers who lost their lives in the gun battle with the terrorists. They also paid homage to the civilians killed in the 60-hour attack.

Appealing to the people to stand united, they said, "We are a strong nation and unity in diversity is our strength. We shall not be cowed down by such heinous attacks."

"India is a country of peace and Indians are known across the world as peace-lovers. Incidents like the Mumbai terror attacks are totally unfortunate. But, we have to the resolve to face them and march ahead on the path of peace," Nageswara Rao said.

Balakrishna and Rajendra Prasad echoed Nageswara Rao's feelings and said Indians should set aside their differences like religion, region, caste and creed and stand united in the times of crisis.

The notable factor in the Tollywood rally was the coming together of the film personalities setting aside their political differences.

While Nandamuri Balakrishna, Roja, Murali Mohan, Raghavendra Rao and Paruchuri Gopalakrishna are Telugu Desam Party members, Rajasekhar and Jeevita are sailing with Congress. Ramcharan Tej is the son of Mega Star and Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi while some other stars are Chiranjeevi's close associates.

But politics was not in play as Tollywood stood as one and organised the event under the aegis of AP Film Chamber of Commerce.

The Movie Artists' Association, Telugu Film Producers' Council, Telugu Film Directors' Association, AP Film Industry Employees Federation and other affiliate bodies took part too.