In search of elusive hits…
SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO
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A few hits amidst a sea of flops. Lack of innovative story ideas and screenplay continue to plague the Telugu film industry.
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You’ve seen love stories earlier and how a couple faces tough times. But the way Selva Raghavan dealt with it made all the difference.
Winsome twosome Rajnikant and Shriya in Sivaji.
If a genie appeared before our Telugu film-makers and producers and offered to grant a wish, we bet they’d ask for a sure shot recipe for success. For, this year has not thrown up too many pleasant surprises. If 2006 saw mixed fortunes, this ye
ar has been no different.
Producers of Adavari Mataluku Arthale Verule are among the lucky few basking in their success. The Venkatesh-Trisha starrer directed by Selva Raghavan is cruising towards the evasive 100-day mark. Shankar’s Sivaji, thanks to all the hype associated with a Rajnikant film, is also making waves and once again shifts the focus on dubbed films.
Barring Dhee, Ranam, Dubai Seenu, Desamudrudu and Evadaithe Nakenti, the industry has been starved for hits. No prizes for guessing the reasons. Lack of innovative stories and screenplays are prime concerns. Direc
tor Tammareddy Bharadwaja puts things into perspective saying, “Directors wants to play safe rather than trying something new. There isn’t much variety in family dramas too. Bommarillu and Nuvvastanante Nenoda
ntana were refreshing family dramas that did extremely well. Otherwise, you find directors opting for repetitive themes from previous Telugu and Tamil hits. Rajnikant’s Basha triggered a trend a decade ago and even today we
see similar films, with a flashback that’s inevitable to take the story forward. Veterans like Raghavendra Rao, K. Viswanath and Dasari excelled in their own genres of film-making and produced hits, but today there’s lack of originality. Producers are just glad that the enhanced ticket rates help them earn more revenue.”
Venkatesh and Trisha in ‘Adavari Mataluku Arthale Verule.
Films like Dhee (Vishnu, Genelia and Srihari) and Ranam (Gopichand and Kamna Jethmalani) have become the staple diet of Telugu cinegoers. An oft-repeated story presented with a generous dose of rib-tickling comedy
is enough to do the trick. Puri Jagannath’s Desamuduru banked on the new and improved Allu Arjun and Hansika Motwani. Allu Arjun was the talk of the town for his well-toned physique and six pack abs; Desamuduru stood to gain. Rajasekhar’s Evadaithe Nakenti, a remake of the Malayalam film Lion, was also among the profit makers.
If the industry is still hesitant to make films for the multiplexes and prefers to play safe, there are a few directors who’ve infused some difference into mainstream cinema. Selva Raghavan belongs to this tribe and is known for making commercially hits rooted in reality. In Telugu, his second venture Adavari Mataluku Arthale Verule did not disappoint. As the film’s leading lady Trisha analyses, “Many who saw the film told me there was nothing drastically new. You
’ve seen love stories earlier and how a couple faces tough times. But the way Selva Raghavan dealt with it made all the difference. He’s one of those directors who don’t waste their heroines. So when he approached me I knew he’d have something substantial for me. He also knew what people would expect from a family drama with Venkatesh.”
The box office sang a different tune when the boss, Sivaji, arrived. Expectations that preceded this Rajnikant movie saw the dubbing rights being acquired for a phenomenal sum. Shankar’s revisits his pet theme of fighting agai
nst corruption and cleansing the system. “When you come across certain newspaper headlines you tend to brush it aside lest it affects you. This film makes you ponder and consider standing up for certain issues. I think that strikes a chord with viewers,” says the film’s actress Shriya. Opulent sets by art director Thotta Tharani, cinematography by K.V. Anand and Rahman’s music complete the picture. Shriya continues, “Nothing was taken for granted. The theme and the details were emailed to me so that I could prepare in advance. We had costume rehearsals a week before a song will go on the floors. The film became such a phenomenon that I couldn’t get tickets in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad after the release.”
But on the whole, the industry is hoping for a few more hits and waiting for NTR’s Yama Donga and Chiranjeevi’s Shankardada Zindabad (remake of Lage Raho Munna Bhai). But then, as Ta
mmareddy says, “It would be nice to see refreshing hits like Bommarillu. In the last few years, Chiranjeevi’s films, despite being hits, haven’t been phenomenal successes. One would expect a megastar’s film to d
o much better business. In fact, other films have fared better.”
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