Tollywood Pitches in with Monetary Relief

There has always been a cross-border connect between Tamil and Telugu film industries, encompassing production, direction, cast and crew. If Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Ajith, Suriya, Vikram and Vishal have a fan base in Tollywood, actors Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, Jr NTR and Mohan Babu are all familiar names to Kollywood fans. Many of them have homes here, and their roots go deep. Not surprisingly, many consider Chennai their second home.

“I would like to donate Rs 25 lakh for Chennai flood relief. I spent 18 years of my early life there. It made me who I am today. I love you Chennai,” Allu Arjun said.

Chennai-born actor Varun Tej, who donated Rs 3 lakh, also sent out a message to like-minded people, urging them to help the flood-hit people in whatever manner possible. 

‘Prince’ Mahesh Babu, whose recent film Srimanthandu released as Selvandhan in Tamil, said he was donating Rs 10 lakh to the CM’s relief fund. Joining him is Jr NTR , who likewise pledged Rs 10 lakh, while his brother Kalyan Ram earmarked Rs 5 lakh for the same. “We are moved by the visuals from Chennai. Everyone should contribute for the cause,” the brothers said. Sai Dharam Tej promised Rs 3 lakh and the producer of 3G Love, Pratap Kollagatla, pledged Rs 1 lakh. Comedian Sampoornesh Babu, who played a cop in the spoofy Telugu film Singam 123, also came up with a donation of Rs 50,000.