Actress Anjali breaks silence after Nandamuri Balakrishna pushed her on stage: 'We share a great friendship'

Actress Anjali addressed the incident where she was pushed on stage by Nandamuri Balakrishna. This occurred during a promotional event for the Telugu film 'Gangs of Godavari.' Initially, when the video emerged on social media, it sparked considerable controversy. Various celebrities and the public reacted strongly, with some criticising Balakrishna's actions and others defending him.

Anjali broke her silence by posting a video clip from the event on her social media. She clarified that there were no hard feelings between her and Balakrishna. In her tweet, she expressed gratitude to Balakrishna for attending the event and highlighted their long-standing friendship and mutual respect. She stated, "I want to thank Balakrishna Garu for gracing the Gangs of Godavari pre-release event with his presence. I would like to express that Balakrishna garu and I have always maintained mutual respect for each other, and we share a great friendship from a long time. It was wonderful to share the stage with him again."

The video clip showed Anjali and Balakrishna conversing, high-fiving, and sharing laughs on stage. Balakrishna was seen asking actors Neha Shetty and Anjali to step aside and then pushing Anjali, almost causing her to tumble. Anjali and others on stage laughed it off, indicating there was no malice in his actions.

However, the incident still attracted a mix of reactions. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada was among the celebrities who reacted strongly, criticizing the societal tendency to hold women responsible for their reactions in such situations. She tweeted, "One of the biggest problems that I notice from people sharing this 'Look at her laughing. She should have ____'. It is NOT possible to respond according to your spectator response as you watch this on your device. This most moral policing, holier than thou - pure as driven snow - Harishchandra/Sri Ramachandramoorthy or their relative incarnates will fail to understand." She further added that society often refuses to hold men in power accountable for their actions, especially those from privileged backgrounds.