Telugu cinema icon Nagarjuna Akkineni has escalated his conflict with Telangana Congress Minister Konda Surekha to the legal arena, filing both criminal and civil defamation cases at Nampally court over her controversial remarks about his son’s divorce.
Nagarjuna Akkineni sues Telangana Minister Konda Surekha
Notably, the legal action comes in response to Surekha’s explosive allegations linking BRS leader KTR to the high-profile divorce of Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
The minister made sweeping claims about KTR’s alleged involvement with drug-related parties and suggested his interference in Telugu film industry actresses’ careers.
Most controversially, Surekha alleged that KTR had demanded sexual favours from the Akkineni family regarding their N-convention centre, claiming this controversy contributed to the celebrity couple’s divorce. These accusations have drawn sharp criticism from the film fraternity and beyond.
Here’s what Nagarjuna said on this controversy:
“I strongly condemn the comments of the honourable Minister, Mrs Konda Surekha. Don’t use the lives of film stars who stay away from politics to criticise your opponents,” Nagarjuna stated on social media in Telugu, urging the minister to “respect other people’s privacy” and avoid dragging film stars into political disputes.
The legal complaint, shared by Naga Chaitanya on X (formerly Twitter), accuses Surekha of deliberately damaging the Akkineni family’s reputation. The actor is pursuing both criminal defamation charges and financial compensation through a civil suit.
How did this row evoke?
The controversy has reignited public interest in Naga Chaitanya and Samantha’s 2021 divorce, which had largely settled from media attention following Chaitanya’s engagement to actor Sobhita Dhulipala in August this year.
This legal battle marks a rare instance of the typically apolitical Akkineni family taking strong action against political figures, highlighting the serious nature of the allegations and their determination to protect their family’s reputation.
