"Rudhramadevi" (Rudrama Devi), which is set to hit screens on 9 October, has got tax exemption from the Telangana government a day before its release.
Director-cum-producer Gunasekhar, Neelima Guna and distributor Dil Raju met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) at his office this morning and requested him for a rebate on the entertainment tax for the historical movie "Rudhramadevi". He is said to have agreed for the same.
Soon after he got the approval for tax exemption, Gunasekhar took to the official Twitter page of "Rudhramadevi" to share his excitement with fans. He posted a photo featuring him and Dil Raju with K Chandrashekar Rao and also thanked the Chief Minister for his encouragement.
#Rudhramadevi to get Entertainment Tax Exemption in Telangana! Thank you KCR garu for your support and encouragement pic.twitter.com/3nhJ2FoNgK
— Rudhramadevi (@Rudhramadevi) October 8, 2015
Later, Gunasekhar revealed on his Twitter handle that the CM praised the efforts of his team. He tweeted, "Met the Hon.CM of Telangana KCR garu. He lauded our efforts for #Rudhramadevi Thanking him for his great gesture."
K Chandrashekar Rao has also expressed his wish to watch "Rudhramadevi". Neelima Guna, who has co-produced the film with Gunasekhar, tweeted, "Just met Telangana CM KCR Sir .. he's such an awesome person ... He said he'd love to watch #Rudhramadevi along with the family :'))"
In recent times, there is hardly any Telugu movie that have got tax exemption and "Rudhramadevi" is one such rare film. Hemanth Kumar CR, a journalist, tweeted, "#Rudhramadevi must be one of the rarest of rare films to get a tax exemption from the government in recent times....good luck to the team."
Telangana has two regions -- Nizam and Ceeded -- and they are the most profitable markets for films in both the Telugu speaking states. All distributors and filmmakers are known to prioritise these areas. Dil Raju and NV Prasad have acquired the theatrical rights of the film for these areas respectively and have made grand arrangements for its release.
As per newspaper ads, "Rudhramadevi" is releasing in 260+ cinema halls in Nizam and around 150 theatres in Ceeded. The movie has got a huge amount of advance booking in these regions and the tax exemption will definitely boost its collection. Andhra Box Office tweeted, "#Rudhramadevi to Get Entertainment Tax (15%) Exemption in Telangana. Huge Boost for the film in Nizam."