For generations of Hyderabad moviegoers, RTC X Roads has been more than a cluster of cinema halls. It is where first-day-first-show celebrations, giant cut-outs, confetti, queues and the collective frenzy around Telugu cinema have played out.
Nani now wants to return to that experience for The Paradise. But this time, he is asking first.
Ahead of the film’s September 24 release, Nani took to X to publicly address Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and the Telangana Police, seeking permission to attend the film’s September 23 premiere at a theatre in RTC X Roads.
Calling himself first a fan of cinema, Nani explained that watching a film with an audience has always been integral to his experience of the movies. RTC X Roads, he said, holds a special place in Hyderabad for precisely that reason. He also assured the authorities that the required protocols and safety guidelines would be followed.
It is a seemingly simple request that carries considerable significance in Hyderabad today.
The shadow of the Pushpa 2 premiere
Any star visit to RTC X Roads inevitably brings back memories of what happened during the December 4, 2024 premiere of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2: The Rule at Sandhya Theatre.
A massive crowd gathered when Allu Arjun arrived at the theatre. In the resulting crush, Revathi, a woman who had come to watch the film with her family, died and her son was seriously injured. A criminal case followed against the actor, members of his security team and theatre management. Allu Arjun was arrested on December 13 and subsequently granted interim bail by the Telangana High Court.
One of the most contested questions in the aftermath was whether the police had been adequately informed about the actor’s visit.
A letter subsequently surfaced showing that Sandhya Theatre management had sought police bandobast and informed authorities that the film’s stars and other VIPs were expected. Police maintained that merely submitting the letter was insufficient and said permission for the celebrity visit had effectively been denied because of crowd-control and access concerns at the venue.
The accountability debate did not end there. In 2025, the National Human Rights Commission reportedly questioned the police response as well, criticising the failure to prevent the crowd situation despite prior information about the possibility of a large gathering.
Against that complicated history, Nani’s decision to make his request publicly and explicitly promise compliance with safety protocols acquires a different meaning. Instead of an informal star appearance becoming known only when crowds gather, the proposed visit is being placed before the government and police in advance.
Whether permission will be granted remains to be seen.
Why RTC X Roads still matters
There is another side to Nani’s request. The Pushpa 2 tragedy transformed one of Hyderabad’s most cherished cinema traditions into a difficult question of public safety: can the city’s culture of stars watching their films amid fans survive without creating uncontrollable gatherings?
For actors, RTC X Roads has traditionally offered something that box-office numbers and social-media reactions cannot — an immediate encounter with the audience.
Nani’s post appears to make precisely that argument. He wants to sit among moviegoers and experience their reactions to a film that has become one of the biggest productions of his career, while acknowledging that such a visit can no longer happen without carefully managed security.
And The Paradise is particularly suited to that audience experience.
What is The Paradise about?
The Paradise reunites Nani with Dasara director Srikanth Odela and is set in a fictional world in 1984-85. At its centre is a marginalised fictional community called the Savaris, people who, according to Nani, effectively exist without social identity or protection. Their struggle to assert that identity develops into the film’s larger rebellion.
While the setting and community are fictional, Odela has said the film incorporates incidents inspired by real life, including experiences from Telangana and an incident connected to Adilabad.
Nani plays Jadal, whose distinctive braided appearance has become central to the film’s imagery. Beneath the scale, violence and action promised by the promotional material, however, both Nani and Odela have emphasised emotion. Nani has described the mother-son relationship as the emotional spine of the film, saying that the film begins and ends with that bond.
The film also stars Kayadu Lohar, Raghav Juyal, Mohan Babu and Sonali Kulkarni, with music by Anirudh Ravichander. It releases worldwide on September 24, with premiere shows beginning on September 23.
A premiere request that is about more than a premiere
Nani’s appeal therefore arrives at an interesting intersection of cinema, fandom and public safety.
Nearly two years after the Sandhya Theatre tragedy fundamentally changed the conversation around celebrity appearances at Hyderabad premieres, one of Telugu cinema’s biggest stars is asking whether an actor can once again sit inside an RTC X Roads theatre and watch his film with the audience — provided the authorities approve it and safety measures are put in place.
For The Paradise, a film built around rebellion, belonging and identity, the premiere has unexpectedly opened another conversation: about Hyderabad’s own identity as a city that has traditionally celebrated its cinema not quietly, but collectively.
The government’s response to Nani’s request could determine whether that tradition finds a safer way forward.
