Balayya pushing Anjali incident: She says they share 'great friendship', 'mutual respect'

Popular Telugu actor-politician Nandamuri Balakrishna, aka Balayya, faced much backlash online after a video showing him pushing fellow actor Anjali during a promotion event of the movie 'Gangs of Godavari' went viral.

Balayya was invited to be the chief guest of the promotion event. While posing for photos with the cast and crew of Gangs of Godavari, Balayya pushed Anjali aside.

The Balayya Anjali incident had led to even many celebrities, including Bollywood director Hansal Mehta and singer Chinmayi Sripada, coming out in support of Anjali.

Sharing a video that showed Balayya pushing Anjali, Hansal Mehta called the veteran Telugu actor a “scumbag”.

"One of the biggest problems that I notice from people sharing this
“Look at her laughing. She should have _”

1. It is NOT possible to respond according to your spectator response as you watch this on your device. This most moral policing, holier than thou - pure as driven snow - Harishchandra /Sri Ramachandramoorthy or their relative incarnates will fail to understand.

2. Society itself refuses to hold men in power who misbehave responsible; Especially when they come from money, caste and political power.

Dont come and tell women what to say and how to behave when you have everything to gain and nothing to lose," Sripada wrote, sharing a video of the Balayya Anjali incident.

Amid the social media backlash against Balayya, Anjali came in support of the actor saying the two have always “maintained mutual respect for each other” and “share great friendship.”

She also shared a video along with a social media post which showed the two sharing a few lighter moments.

“I want to thank Balakrishna Garu for gracing the Gangs of Godavari pre-release event with his presence.

I would like to express that Balakrishna garu and I have always maintained mutual respect for each other and We share a great friendship from a long time. It was wonderful to share the stage with him again,” she wrote.