Telugu producer Allu Aravind expressed his dissatisfaction with celebrities from other industries for blaming Tollywood for the mismanagement at the event.
Santosham Film Awards are given away by journalist-film publicist Suresh Kondeti every year. (X)
The mismanagement at Santosham South Indian Film Awards 2023 — held in Goa on Sunday, 3 December — snowballed into a controversy. The issue seems to be taking a toll on the reputation and image of the Telugu film industry.
On Monday morning, 4 December, a tweet from a film journalist went viral that read: “#Kannada celebrities face humiliation at #SanthoshamSouthIndian Film awards #Goa.”
It was alleged that the award function, organised by Santosham magazine founder Suresh Kondeti and team, abruptly ended when actors in the Kannada film industry were to receive the awards.
The organisers of Santosham Film Awards reportedly switched off the lights as soon as Kannada actor Ramesh Aravind went on to the stage, prompting the anchor to leave and asking the Kannada actors to depart.
Further, no accommodation was provided to the actors and filmmakers who attended the event. As a result, they faced difficulties.
They could not even check out from the hotel as the organisers did not pay the bills, and their rooms were locked. They could check out only after the intervention of the local police.
.#Kannada celebrities face humilation at #SanthoshamSouthIndian Film awards #Goa
It is with deep concern and disappointment that we need to address the distressing events that transpired at the #Santhosham #South #Indian Film Awards 2023 The award function that is organised by… pic.twitter.com/s0kXAKPmh1
— A Sharadhaa (@sharadasrinidhi) December 3, 2023
Reacting to the incident, Tollywood producer Allu Aravind on Monday said Santosham magazine founder Suresh, also a film publicist, was not associated with his (Mega) family as claimed by a couple of media reports.
He also found fault with the media for taking his family name while attributing “Santosham” Suresh to the mismanagement of the film awards function held in Goa.
“Journalist Suresh, who has been a film journalist and a magazine editor for 20 years, has been organising Santosham Film Awards for many years. He may have fumbled or, he couldn’t properly organise the event in Goa. I have never announced that he is part of our team or our personal PR,” Allu Aravind told the media.
The ace producer added, “Occasionally, when may have met during a public event, and thus he may appear in the photos. But that doesn’t mean he is a part of our PR team. It is not correct for the media to write that Suresh is working for the Allu family.”
Allu Aravind further expressed his dissatisfaction over the Telugu film industry being blamed by other film industries.
“I read in the newspaper about how the mismanagement of the function eventually affected the Telugu film industry at large. It is not fair to make the Telugu industry responsible for the wrongdoing of a single person. It is the personal failure of Suresh,” he adds.
ఆ PRO మా మెగా PRO కాదు
Allu Aravind Sensational Comments On Suresh Kondeti#chiranjeevi #alluaravind #sureshkondeti #SantoshamAwards2023 #SantoshamAwards #NTVENT pic.twitter.com/pi9YuxtULQ
— Ntv Telugu Entertainment (@NtvTeluguEnt) December 4, 2023
The Santosham Film Awards 2023 has been drawing flak from all quarters on social media. It is alleged that inadequate facilities like accommodations to celebs and non-payment of hotel bills led to chaos at the venue in Goa.
A producer, who travelled from Hyderabad to attend the event, is learnt to have shelled out huge money for his return journey to Hyderabad.
Senior actor Murali Mohan had to face trouble in Goa.
It is also learnt that Allu Aravind and producer Damodar Prasad had to make last-minute payments to ensure the event concluded smoothly.
Journalist-PRO Suresh Kondeti. (X)
Following this, event organiser-publicist Suresh Kondeti took to X to clarify and apologise.
In the tweet, he said he has been giving away Santosham awards for the past 21 years. He clarified that it was his interest to organise the film awards function every year, and the Telugu film industry has nothing to do with it.
Suresh wrote: “I have been organising the function very grandly. I respect people from all the film industries. I have been felicitating actors from all the four film industries in the South. Due to the communication gap, people had to face difficulties in Goa. As many as 1,200 celebrities attended the awards function.”
He added, “It was quite challenging for us to allocate accommodations for all of them. My intention was not to trouble Kannada and Tamil celebrities. Such mistakes are quite common when an event of that scale is arranged. It was not intentional. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to the celebs. Some individuals within the industry are trying to throw the muck at me.”
Suresh further wrote: “My intentions have always been positive and for the betterment of the industry.”
— Suresh Kondeti (@santoshamsuresh) December 4, 2023
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