MAA elections: Prakash Raj gets into business straight away, addresses ‘Maa Biddalu’

Ahead of the elections to MAA (Movie Artistes Association), the actor addressed his panel ‘Maa Biddalu’ on Tuesday.

Hyderabad: In his smart, sensitive way of dealing with things, actor Prakash Raj sounded a leader who gets straight into business without glib talk. Ahead of the elections to MAA (Movie Artistes Association), the actor addressed his panel ‘Maa Biddalu’ on Tuesday.

Making a strong point that he would strive to make the association financially strong, the actor spoke at length about the existing problems in MAA and said only clear vision and dedication would make it.

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“MAA elections are not about one panel emerging victorious and the other one biting the dust. The members who elect their leader correctly would ultimately stand winners. Members could only lose if they chose the wrong person. We have been watching MAA polls over the years. It’s not a battlefield, nor a cricket match; it’s just an election. Every contestant in the fray would come with a positive outlook, announcing freebies. Elected person would be gone after a brief stint. But members who elect him would stay forever. This is the practice here. The practice is not going in the right way. I am not here to comment on my predecessor,” he says.

Prakash Raj said the elected panel is not responsible for MAA getting tarnished. “It’s you who elected them,” he addressed artistes in the meeting.

Dissecting problems

Prakash Raj said the artistes’ association is not meant for charity that it takes up. “It should grow beyond. Helping a poor artiste with Rs 10,000 or mere doing away with daily essentials or facilitating character roles in movies aren’t the only things to do. No, the purpose of MAA should be an empowering association. It’s been a practice that if an artiste in Telugu industry is in deep trouble, it’s as if MAA is there only to help the artiste and it’s not there to root out the problem. If one has to solve the problem, the person should have clarity on it. How properly it is being dissected in an organised way is what matters.”

Miserable life

Continuing further, Prakash Raj said over 150 artistes in MAA association are inactive. “The number is not 900 as stated by a few artistes. Out of 750 movie artistes, 147 are non-local. Among the remaining lot of 600, top actors like Ram Charan, Naga Chaitanya or NTR wouldn’t come to vote. So, only 450 are left who decide the fate of contestants in the election. Moving further, 200 members are well off who do not need any perks from MAA. And out of 200, just above 40 artistes are stage artistes who are living miserable lives. They don’t know the politics of cinema. Nor do they know how to get roles in movies. If properly taught how to act before the lens, they would perfectly do it. When I recently sought to know the welfare schemes that are meant for cinema artistes from Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, he listed several schemes that artistes are eligible for.

Future plan

Charting his plan on how he would go about soon after assuming charge as MAA president, Prakash Raj said he would create a ‘100 doctors club’ for MAA. “Every association member would get a health card within three months after my panel gets elected,” he says.

Taking the example of how the anthology series ‘Navarasa’ was planned to benefit the struggling out-of-work artistes, Prakash Raj said, “‘Navarasa’ collected Rs 24 crore. Actor Suriya and I worked for a pay cheque of Rs 1,000 to benefit struggling artistes. Such plans are afoot here too. Soon after the victory, we’re going to collect a fund of Rs 10 crore within six months. If there is someone who can be a cultural ambassador for Telugu, it is the face of a movie artiste. That’s the significance of MAA association,” he concludes.

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