Actor Siddharth was on Monday in disagreement with the recent Telangana government diktat that actors who want to enjoy the benefit of hiked ticket prices in the State have to do something mandatorily. Recently, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy declared that the actors of big-budget movies seeking hiked rates have to necessarily bring out awareness videos (on issues like drug addiction) as a service in exchange for the increased rates.
Siddharth, addressing the media on Monday, said, "I was the first actor to cooperate with the Andhra Pradesh government way back in 2005 on safe sex awareness. I held a condom in my hand to promote the cause. I felt responsible on my own. No Chief Minister had told me to do it. I don't understand what actors have to be socially responsible means. We do things based on our conscience. No CM has ever told us, 'We will do this only if you do that'."
Siddharth made the above statement in the presser of 'Indian 2'.
Hours later, Siddharth swallowed his own words. He declared his fullest support was to Revanth Reddy. While he was right in opining that public service announcements shouldn't be imposed on celebrities, he was wrong in using the platform of a film produced by someone else to air his personal views. He went over the board when he made it look like his fellow 'Indian 2' actor Kamal Haasan and director Shankar, too, were not willing to issue a 'Say no to drugs' message.
