Tottempudi Gopichand dances to fast beats and piercing whistles. Brahmanandam commands claps and catcalls for the umpteenth time. We too applauded the latest action hero and the constant comedian of Telugu cinema, but reserved the loudest for Prakash Raj, the antihero who has been creating superheroes across south India. “Pedda Prakash Raj fansukalu…” The reveling boys behind us were curious about the villain worship. By the time we left the old-world theatre, after Gopichand did the customary bashing-up of the army of herculeses, we were bound by our love of the fantastical. Prem Udayabhanu and I had got into a slow passenger train to Guntur from Bangalore in the morning. Chilli bajjis and dal vadas accompanied apple-flavoured vodka. After noon, we got down at Dharmavaram, about 40 kilometres short of Anantapur, our original destination. Chiranjeevi, matinee
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