Hyderabad: A crucial meeting between the Telangana government and Telugu film industry representatives is expected to be held on Thursday to thaw the speculated strained ties between the ruling dispensation and the tinseltown following the arrest of top actor Allu Arjun.

The 42 year-old star was arrested recently in connection with the stampede at a theatre here screening his latest movie “Pushpa: The Rule” that resulted in the death of a woman on December 4.

Telangana State Film Development Corporation (FDC) chairman and leading producer Dil Raju on Wednesday said a delegation of film personalities would call on state Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy today to foster “healthy relations” between the government and the industry.

The meeting assumes significance amid Cinematography minister Komatireddi Venkat Reddy’s statement that the state government, in future, may consider ticket price hike only for certain categories such as films made on history, freedom struggle or anti-drugs or message oriented.

The state government’s stand came in the wake of the death of a 35-year-old woman at Sandhya Theatre here due to suffocation where ‘Pushpa 2’ movie was screened on December 4.

The minister’s statement, if really implemented, will have a huge impact on the high budget films such as Ram Charan’s “Game Changer”, Nandamuri Balakrishna’s “Daaku Maharaj” and Venkatesh’s “Sankranthiki Vasthunnam” which are slated for release during Sankranti next year.

Directed by popular Director S Shankar, Game Changer was produced by Dil Raju. The film is reportedly made with a budget of nearly Rs 400 crore.

Though the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce welcomed the government’s decision that it will not allow benefit shows of movies in the state and also enhanced ticket prices will be done on a case-to-case basis, the move may not go down well with the production houses as they usually look to reap the benefits during the early day of the film release.

The meeting is being organised on behalf of the FDC, Dil Raju had said, adding, he would act as a bridge between the government and the film fraternity.

Some ruling Congress leaders have found fault with Allu Arjun’s comments last week, describing the stampede incident as purely accidental and denying the allegations made by CM Revanth Reddy on the “roadshow” before the film screening.

Hours after Reddy slammed the actor for holding a roadshow and waving to the crowds at the theatre, without referring to anyone, the ‘Pushpa’ star refuted the allegations, saying it was not a procession or a roadshow.

Allu Arjun was arrested by the city police in connection with the death of the woman on December 13.

The Telangana High Court granted him a four-week interim bail on the same day and he was released from a prison here on December 14 morning.

Mumbai: A fire broke out inside a moving Lamborghini car on the Coastal Road in Mumbai on Wednesday night, officials said. No injuries are reported in the incident which occurred at around 10:20 PM.

A fire brigade official said one fire engine was promptly dispatched to the spot. The blaze was doused in approximately 45 minutes. The information about the exact number of occupants in the car and the cause of the fire are not available immediately.

Business tycoon and car enthusiast Gautam Singhania shared a video of the affected car on his social media account. Another video shows flames in the cabin of the orange-coloured car with Gujarat registration number, and a man attempting to put them out.

A 48-year-old doctor has allegedly been duped of Rs 70 lakh by three persons, including a woman, who offered to sell him a flat in Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai township, police said on Thursday.

The accused showed a flat located in Roadpali area of Kalamboli to the doctor and expressed their intention to sell it to him despite the fact that it had been already sold to someone else.

They took Rs 70 lakh from the doctor but did not give him possession of the flat, an official from Kalamboli police station said.

When the doctor demanded his money back, the accused evaded him.

The doctor on Tuesday approached the police with a complaint, based on which a case was registered against the three accused under legal provisions for cheating and criminal breach of trust, the official said.

The teacher of a convent school in the Chitbaragaon police station area here was booked for allegedly beating a class six student for wearing a cap to school, police said on Thursday.

The teacher allegedly beat the child again after his father complained to the school authorities about the incident, Chitbaragaon police station in-charge Prashant Kumar Chaudhary said.

An FIR was filed against Jitendra Rai, a teacher at Nav Bharat Children Academy, on the complaint of Anil Kumar Gupta from Jai Prakash Nagar village on Wednesday, police said.

In his complaint, Gupta accused Rai of using abusive language against his son, Shlok Gupta, for wearing a cap to school and beating him for it, Chaudhary said, adding that the incident took place on December 20.

When Gupta went to the school the next day to deposit the fees, he complained about the teacher to the school principal, he said.

Angered by this, Rai beat the student again on the same day and banged his head against the wall, Chaudhary added.

The matter is under investigation, he said.

Indore: A food delivery agent in Indore was compelled to remove his Santa Claus costume after being confronted by members of the Hindu Jagran Manch on Christmas Day.

A viral video shows Sumit Hardia, the district convenor of the Hindu Jagran Manch, interrogating the Zomato delivery agent about his attire. Hardia asked, “Do you deliver orders dressed as Lord Ram during Diwali?” The delivery agent explained that he was wearing the costume as instructed by his company.

Hardia criticised the practice, stating, “We are Hindus, what message are we giving to children? If a message must be sent, dress as Bhagat Singh or Chandra Sekhar Azad.” He further alleged that such costumes are part of “religious conversion temptations.”

The delivery agent was subsequently made to remove the costume. Hardia also questioned the motives of food delivery companies, asserting that India is a “Hindu rashtra” and that most orders are delivered to Hindu households.

Raichur: An unidentified individual has allegedly attempted to film videos of female students using a mobile phone from the girls toilet of the Rajlabanda Morarji Desai Backward Class Hostel in Manvi taluk of the district. The incident is reported to have taken place on December 19 at around 10 pm.

The hostel which is located on the Karadigudda Road, accommodates both boys and girls, and is run by the Government of Karnataka.

The incident came to light when a student noticed the mobile phone being placed from behind the window of the toilet . The student upon noticing the mobile phone immediately informed her classmates, and other boys at the hostel. In the meantime, Hostel warden Shankrappa, Principal and other boys who were at the scene went outside the hostel compound and tried to catch the young man.

The Hostel warden informed the police about the incident. The police who reached the spot later warned the people and youth present there that no one should come towards the women’s hostel.

On Saturday night, PI Veerabhadraiah Hiremath visited the Morarji Desai hostel and inspected the spot. Acting on the complaint given by Warden Shankrappa, a case has been registered against the suspicious person, and an investigation has been initiated.

 Two passengers on board a Delhi-bound Air India flight from Copenhagen (Denmark) came to blows over armrest space just when the aircraft was about to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday, a source said.

The flight landed at around 7.35 am.

An Air India official said that the passengers had an argument over some issue at its Copenhagen-Delhi flight of Saturday which was later sorted out “amicably”.

According to the source, “The two passengers started an argument over the armrest space in economy class when the cabin crew was serving food and beverages, which turned into a heated exchange. The cabin crew pacified them by giving one of the passengers another seat.

“However, when the aircraft was about to land in Delhi, the passenger came to collect his baggage from the seat he was sitting earlier, they again started the fight and came to blows.”

The number of passengers on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating AI 158 (Copenhagen-Delhi) could not be known.

The source, however, said that the flight was almost full.

When contacted, an Air India official said, “There was an argument between the two passengers over some issue but it was resolved amicably. They even shook hands before leaving the airport.”