Quick Gun Murugun (QGM) may have become a hot favourite of the nation but the Reddy community is not amused. In fact, they are enraged. The Reddys have taken umbrage at the villain in the movie being given the name ‘Rice Plate Reddy’.For the filmmaker Shashank Ghosh, giving such a name to the villain was probably just a move to sound funny, in line with the spirit of the comedy film.Telugu actor Rajendra Prasad who plays QGM in the movie made in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu has been hogging the
limelight over the last few months in the pre-release publicity of the movie, even making dosas to create new world records.
While the English version of the film has made it to international film festivals, it is all set for release in the country in English, Hindi and Tamil. The Telugu version, it is said, will be released sometime later.
All the characters in the movie have funny names - Quick Gun Murugun who wears outlandish costumes, Rowdy MBA, Mango Dolly, Locket Girl, Gunpowder and Dr Django. While any or all of these may tickle the funny bone, the name Rice Plate Reddy given to the main villain in the movie has become unpalatable to the strong Reddy community in Andhra Pradesh.
The character Rice Plate Reddy, a restaurant owner, is played by actor Nazar.
“How could they think of a name like that? It is quite objectionable. It does not sound funny. Why should they have the Reddy’ name to it?” questioned Thota Srinivas Reddy, founder of ‘Reddypariwar’, an association of Reddys which boasts of 85,000 members. Like Quick Gun Murugun’s ‘Mind it’ threat that he keeps issuing to his enemies in the movie, the Reddys too
are saying ‘Mind it’ to the film makers. Incidentally ever since Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956, it is the Reddys who have been at the helm of political affairs with most chief ministers were Reddys.
The present chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, as is obvious, is also a Reddy. Now the community is not amused at being laughed at.In 2003 when the runaway hit ‘Okkadu’ starring Mahesh Babu was released, the Reddys seethed with anger. The name of the
villain in the movie played by Prakash Raj was ‘Obul Reddy’, a factionist from Rayalaseema. Towards the climax of the movie, the hero beats up the villain to pulp in a way that was perhaps never seen in Telugu movies.
The villain getting bashed up at the end is no news - after all villains are meant to suffer in the end, but a ‘Reddy’ villain being beaten to pulp was something the egos of the Reddys would not accept. Hundreds of Reddys staged dharnas and even attacked the house of the film producer.
The censor board was asked not to allow the Reddy tag to the names of villains by the protestors. “It seemed to have stopped but now they have come up with Rice Plate Reddy. We won’t take it lying down,” Srinivas Reddy warned. TOI
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