Sai Dharam Tej Starrer Gaanja Shankar Shelved After Title Controversy? Actor Addresses Rumours

After Skanda, Sai Dharam Tej signed a film with director Sampath Nandi, titled Gaanja Shankar. The upcoming Telugu movie was caught up in a controversy around its title, with the Telangana State Anti-Narcotic Bureau taking objection to its title, claiming it is promoting drugs. A directive was issued to the makers which sought omission of the term Gaanja (cannabis) from it. Meanwhile, rumours have been afloat claiming the film has been shelved. Tej has now issued a clarification about the same.

Sai Dharam Tej reacts to reports of Gaanja Shankar being shelved

During the special screening event of the short film Satya, Sai Dharam Tej was asked if his movie Ganjaa Shankar got shelved. In response, he took the names of a few Telugu movie websites and added that he gets to know all the information about his films from those sites.

As quoted by 123 Telugu, Sai Dharam Tej said, “They know details about my projects, which I don’t even know about. I learned that Gaanja Shankar got shelved after reading their articles. If you (referring to media) know about the film’s progress, please let me know. I don’t know that our team received a notice from TANB.”

“I swear to god that I don’t have any info about it. Those websites need to tell me if the film is shelved or not,” the actor noted.

Controversy around Ganjaa Shankar title

With regard to the film's title and the trailer uploaded on YouTube, Telangana State Anti-Narcotic Bureau  (TSNAB) instructed actor Sai Dharam Tej, producer and director of the film that if any objectionable scenes in connection with Gaanja/narcotics and psychotropic substances are included, legal action will be initiated against them under NDPS Act.

TSNAB believes that the film's title and the scenes included in the trailer seem to be glorifying drug consumption and sales, thus potentially violating NDPS Act.

(With IANS inputs)