New Delhi: Vijay Deverakonda met the executive director of Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir Cinema Manoj Desai in Mumbai recently. The meeting took place a few days after Manoj Desai called Deverakonda ‘arrogant’ for his comment on the boycott of films.
Commenting on the boycott trends, Vijay had earlier said, “kaun rokenge dekh lenge (who will stop (us), we will see)”. Manoj criticises Vijay for his statement and called him ‘arrogant’.
The picture of their meeting has gone viral. Andhra box office shared the photo on Twitter and wrote, “#VijayDeverakonda met Mumbai Exhibitor #ManojDesai and expressed regret about his recent comments about the Boycott/OTT Issues (which are allegedly taken out of context). He will be promoting Liger in Dubai tomorrow at #AsiaCup.”
Vijay, who happens to be a theatre owner himself and understands the elements that make up the movie business, felt that it was important to clear the air. He flew down to Mumbai from Hyderabad to meet Desai and explained to him that what the theatre owner had seen was a doctored video.
After Vijay gave his side of the story, and said he deeply loves his audience and participated in nationwide promotions despite his broken back, Desai understood the context and stated that Vijay is the second person after Amitabh Bachchan to whom he has apologised in his life.
Desai was all praise for Deverakonda. He said: “He is a really very nice guy, down to earth, I will keep loving him always. He has got a bright future and I promise hereby, I will take all his pictures. I wish him all the best.”
Hopes were high on Vijay Deverakonda’s Bollywood debut ‘Liger’ that it will end the dry spell of the Hindi film industry but the film has failed to attract audiences to theatres. The Hindi version, which earned around Rs 1.25 crore in paid previews, Rs. 4.50 crore on Friday, has collected Rs 4.10 to Rs 4.50 crore on Saturday, according to Bollywood Hungama.
(With inputs from IANS)