After the release of Srimanthudu, Mahesh Babu adopted two villages: Siddhapuram in Telangana and Burripalem in Andhra Pradesh.
While the pace of work in these two villages was lethargic initially, it became discernibly faster on the eve of release of Bharat Ane Nenu.
In Burripalem, the allegation is that donations were taken for fencing the plants.
Mahesh Babu is one of the super stars of Indian cinema. He gets around Rs 20 crore as remuneration for a film plus share in profits.
Brahmotsavam, Spyder, Srimanthudu and Bharat Ane Nenu earnings of Mahesh easily total around Rs 100 crore. These apart from his brand endorsements put him in the billionaire club.
Therefore, earmarking around Rs 5 crore each for these two villages might not be a big deal for Mahesh.
However, what is attracting attention is the speculation that corporate bodies are also being approached to finance the development of these villages which brings us to the question: How much is Mahesh spending from his own pocket?
Industry is abuzz with gossip that Namrata recently met the Chairman of Natco Pharma and got a cheque for Rs 25 lakh from him for the development of Siddhapuram.
So, is this amount over and above what Mahesh has committed to those villages or part of it? However, at the end of the day, it is good if those villages ultimately end up with benefits and development.
