Chiranjeevi REFUTES claims of meeting protesting Tollywood workers over wage hike, calls them 'baseless and...'
Megastar Chiranjeevi challenged allegations that he spoke with the protesting workers and assured them that their requests will be respected during the Telugu film industry's total shutdown. He stated that all parties involved, not just one, will decide whether or not to comply with the requests. Refuting the false reports, Chiranjeevi took to his X handle and wrote, "It has come to my attention that some individuals claiming to be the members of the Film Federation have gone to the media falsely claiming that I have met them and given an assurance that their demands regarding a 30 per cent wage hike, etc., shall be met and that I will be starting shooting very soon. I wish to set the record straight that I have not met anyone from the federation (sic)."
Film chamber to decide, not individuals: Chiranjeevi
He went on to say, "This is an industry issue and no individual, including me, can give any unilateral assurances to solve any problem one way or the other. The film chamber is the apex body of the Telugu Film Industry and only the Film chamber as a collective will engage in discussions with all concerned and arrive at a just solution. Until such time, making such false claims is unacceptable (sic)."
"I condemn all such baseless and motivated claims to create confusion among all stakeholders. Please note (sic)," he concluded.
It has come to my attention that some individuals claiming to be the members of the Film Federation have gone to media falsely claiming that I have met them and given an assurance that their demands regarding 30% wage hike etc., shall be met and that I will be starting shooting
Chiranjeevi Konidela (@KChiruTweets) August 9, 2025
Why Tollywood shoots halted?
For those who are unaware, all Telugu film shoots were halted when the Telugu Film Employees Federation declared a strike in response to a long-running dispute about outstanding salary modifications.
The workers' union wanted a 30% increase in Tollywood workers' daily earnings, claiming that salary modifications had not been made in three years.
Federation also demanded that...
The federation also urged that the salary must be given to the workers on a daily basis, rather than keeping it up in pending payments. According to reports, the workers went on an indefinite strike after rejecting a 5% raise granted by the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce and the Telugu Film Producers Council.