"Memu Saitham" Donate Rs 11,51,56,116/-

No doubt, Tollywood in unison came forward for a noble cause under the umbrella "Memu Saitham". Apart from 12-hour-long Telethon, it also threw a dinner in order to raise funds for the victims of Hudhud. On whole, it managed to donate a whopping Rs 11,51,56,116/- excluding satellite rights Rs 3.5 Crore and other donations to AP CM Relief Fund. But one thing that set the tongues wagging is the huge list of A-lister absentees.

Actor-Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan's absence at the Telugu Film Industry's entertainment marathon Memu Saitham was conspicuous. When all eyes were on Pawan's presence, the actor choose to give it a miss disappointing lakhs of his fans. Well, one can't blame Pawan's commitment towards Hudhud victims as he already donated Rs 50 Lakh and even visited the affected region. Although there was no exact clue why the Gabbar Singh star gave the grand event a miss, rumour mill is abuzz that Pawan's alleged differences with Allu Aravind said to have played spoilsport.

In fact, Pawan also skipped "Dinner with Pawan Kalyan" which was organised on Saturday night (Nov 29) at a private function hall. Even stars like Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan confined to cameos but none of them played significant role in the do. Mahesh Babu, NTR and Charan were a bit better as Mahesh did a skit, NTR and Charan played cricket.

Coming to directors Rajamouli, Sreenu Vytla, Puri Jagannadh, VV Vinayak, Sukumar, Ram Gopal Varma chose not to attend the grand telethon. However, Vinayak could be excused as his mother is unwell. Only Trivikram Srinivas was seen in a skit alongside Mahesh Babu and Samantha. What happened to directors like Rajamouli who always stand in front row when it comes to philanthropic events? He rather confined to a brief, short skit with his team shot in the locales of Baahubali shooting. Then what about directors like Sreenu Vytla, Puri Jagannadh? The absence of all these A-listers made Memu Saitham an average grosser. Had the above missed stars, directors made it to the do, it'd have been a blockbuster minting money for the AP government.