What law and order problems can Lakshmi's NTR cause? asks Ram Gopal Varma

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma on Wednesday, 1 May, questioned the grounds on which his film Lakshmi's NTR was stopped from being released in Andhra Pradesh despite being given a nod by the high court here.

Having released in Telangana and other states last month, Varma had made plans to release the film in Andhra Pradesh on 1 May.

"Lakshmi's NTR has been taken out of all theatres in Andhra Pradesh with officials claiming it might cause law and order problems. In spite of censor certificate given and high court clearing it, what law and order problems can be there is what I want to ask the forces behind," Varma tweeted.

On Tuesday, 30 April, the Election Commission refused to grant permission for releasing the movie in Andhra Pradesh after some Telugu Desam Party (TDP) functionaries alleged that the film depicted chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu in a negative manner and this could impact the party's poll prospects.

Elections to the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state were held on 11 April.

On Sunday, 28 April, Varma was denied entry into Vijayawada to promote Lakshmi's NTR.

He said he was detained by the city police at Vijayawada airport and sent back to Hyderabad without assigning any reason.

In a video he later shared on his Twitter page, Varma explained that he had been barred entry into Vijayawada where he was supposed to be part of a press meet.

Lakshmi's NTR is about the events that happened in NTR's life after the entry of Lakshmi Parvathy in his life.

The film tracks the events that led to NTR's 'dethroning' in August 1995 by his son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu.

In the film, P Vijay Kumar plays the veteran actor-politician, while popular Yagna Shetty plays Lakshmi Parvathy, and it has been jointly directed by Varma and Agasthya Manju.