South Newsmakers Of The Week: Rajinikanth's Periyar row to Pawan Kalyan's Pink Telugu remake

As the weekend is coming to an end, we are back yet again with our edition of 'South Newsmakers Of The Week'. This week was filled with a lot of news, gossips, and photos that surfaced on social media. One of the biggest news that hit the headlines this week was Rajinikanth's Periyar rally controversy. The superstar's comment stirred debate across the country over the controversial 1971 rally by social reformer Periyar. On the other, Pawan Kalyan kick-started shooting for the Telugu remake of Amitabh Bachchan's Pink. As we look forward to know what the new week has in stores for us, here's a look at the top newsmakers of the week. 

Rajinikanth about the Periyar rally: Rajinikanth was asked to apologise for his statement on a rally held by social reformer Periyar. The actor presented a newspaper copy from 1971 in front of the press and stated that he made his statements based on what he read in newspapers. Rajinikanth also refused to issue an apology and stated that he still stands by his statement. While talking during the release the 50th-anniversary souvenir of Thuglak magazine in Chennai on January 14, Rajinikanth reportedly said that during a rally held by Periyar EVR in 1971, in Tamil Nadu's Salem, idols of Lord Rama and Sita were paraded in an offensive way.  READ MORE HERE

Pawan Kalyan shoots Pink Telugu remake: The south superstar Pawan Kalyan is making a comeback and will be essaying a powerful role in the Telugu remake of Hindi film Pink. The actor-politician kick-started the film's first schedule this week and a few photos from the sets surfaced on social media. 

Vijay Deverakonda's VD10: South star Vijay Deverakonda finally kick-started the shooting of his next with director Puri Jagannadh in Mumbai. Directed and produced by Puri Jagannath under Puri Connects banner, the Hindi version of the film will be presented by Karan Johar under Dharma Productions. 

ALSO READ: Vijay Deverakonda's VD 10: Here's everything about the actor's role in Puri Jagannadh's film

Kiccha Sudeep to receive the Dada Saheb Phalke: The Kannada superstar will be receiving the award for the Most Promising actor for the film Dabangg 3 at the upcoming Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival 2020.

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Ajay Devgn joins SS Rajamouli's RRR:  Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn joined RRR team this week in Hyderabad. The film stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan in the lead roles. The makers of the film took to social media and shared a candid moment of Ajay Devgn and SS Rajamouli from the first day of the film's shoot. Check it out below.

Allu Arjun's uncle passes away: Allu Arjun's maternal uncle Muttamsetty Rajendra Prasad passed away on Wednesday morning, January 22 at Vijayawada. Muttamsetty Rajendra Prasad is an elder brother of Allu Arjun's mother Nirmala Devi. The entire Allu family is in a state of shock and soon after hearing about his uncle's demise, the actor along with his family rushed to Vijayawada.