NTR’s Devara is releasing on the 27th of this month and the Pre-release event is planned at Novotel Hotel, Hyderabad on Sunday.
But then, the event resulted in complete chaos.
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It’s been three years since fans saw NTR on the big screen and it’s been a while since he came for an event. So, the anticipation in fans is very high.
Devara is his solo film after a long time.
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But then, there was a Weather Department prediction that heavy rains are possible from September 20th. So, they have opted for an indoor venue.
Fans from both the Telugu states and even from Karnataka came to Hyderabad to see their favorite actor.
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The Event management company, Shreyas Media made accordingly but the arrangements were not enough for the fans who came in big rumors.
Fans are alleging that the event management company distributed passes 3-4 times the capacity of the venue and as a result, there was complete chaos.
The event was supposed to begin at 7-7.30 PM but by 6 PM itself the auditorium was full and there was a big crowd standing outside the venue with passes. The security and the Police refused entry and fans shouted slogans against the Police and the Event Management company.
At one stage inside the auditorium, there was suffocation in the fans’ gallery due to the crowd, and some fans even got grievously hurt as they fell over the barricades.
By 6.30 PM, Novotel Security and Police were saying the event got canceled due to the crowd waiting outside. But the fans would not move suspecting that police are spreading wrong information to clear the crowd.
Inside the auditorium, things quickly got out of control. The fans outnumbered the bouncers, security, and police and barged into the area where NTR and other celebrities were supposed to sit. At one stage, they even came on the stage.
Angry fans sat in protest shouting slogans against the Event Management company. They were so close to the celebrity arena that there was a significant security risk for the actors to come.
The technical team handling the video and sound systems of the event were terrified and police and security were focused only on securing the stage.
Around 9 PM, fans got impatient and were leaving the event.
So who is wrong in this entire episode?
Planning an event in an indoor venue is a gross miscalculation. Novotel was a fair venue if the passes were distributed according to the capacity. There were ample parking spaces even though they were a bit far from the venue.
But printing passes 3-4 times more than the capacity is a horrible mistake. The event management with vast experience and the producers could not see this coming. The security deployed at the venue was outnumbered by the fans. Even the Police personnel were not enough.
There were rumors that the organizers would vacate the entire auditorium and have an event without fans. But that did not happen.
The bikes were parked haphazardly at Novotel Gate. As fans came out all of a sudden, it was turmoil to take out the vehicles and there was also a huge traffic jam in the Novotel – Cyber Towers stretch.
Keeping aside who is wrong, it was a massive disappointment for the fans who came from long distances to see their favorite hero.
Even more pathetic is some YouTube Channels trying to egg fans into making ‘Thumbnail-worth’ statements against the movie team and the Event Management company.