Experimentation is in
Star power is out

A domesticated version of Chiranjeevi in Hitler where his primary concern is the bringing up of five sisters; Balakrishna, in a more responsible, middle-aged role in Peddannayya tries to keep a joint family together; Nagarjuna does a semi-mythological, Annamayya; and Venkatesh plays a crusader in Pellichesukundam where he supports and ultimately marries a rape victim.

All these films were highly successful at the box-office. However, the same actors in routine masala movies (Balakrishna in Muddula Mogudu and Devudu, Nagarjuna in Rakshakudu and Venkatesh in Chinnabbayi) fared badly. ‘Red’ films which ruled the roost in 1996 sustained their success streak in the first half of 1997, with Mohan Babu’s Adavilo Anna and Dasari’s Osey Ramulamma doing well. But red films took a beating at the box-office in the second half with both Dasari’s Rowdy Durbar and Krishan’s Encounter failing to do well.

Same is the case with dubbed films. In 1996 there were many hits in this category. But in 1997 they were not as successful, as Mani Ratnam’s Iddaru and AVM’s Merupu Kalalu showed. The trend continued till the end of the year, barring an occasional film like Pelli Kala Vachesinde Bala, which is doing good business. Even Rajnikanth’s Arunachalam did only average business compared to his previous hits Baasha and Muthu.

Compared to the previous year, the production of films too dwindled. Mounting production costs, hike in theatre rentals, admission rates and distributors’ disinterest in buying films until they have seen the first copy, are being cited as some of the reasons for this phenomenon. Thankfully, waking up to this slump in the industry, producers are taking measures to curb the production costs as a first step towards a revival plan.

Among the heroes, Chiranjeevi made a grand comeback with Hitler directed by Muthyala Subbiah. He further consolidated his position with Master (Suresh Krishna). Balakrishna had a solo hit, Peddannayya (Sarath). His other two starers, Muddula Mogudu and Devudu, failed to click.

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Nagarjuna had a year of mixed fortunes, with Annamayya celebrating a silver jubilee while the dubbed Rakshakudu proved a disaster. Venkatesh had two major hits, Preminchukundam Raa (Jayanth) and Pellichesukundam (Muthyala Subbiah) and a flop, Chinnabbayi. Also in the success race are Jagapathi Babu (Subhakankshalu and Dongaata), Suresh (Dongaata and Pattukondi Chooddam) and Rajendra Prasad (Jai Bajranga Bali). Incidentally, Rajendra Prasad was awarded a doctorate by Andhra University. Apart from Annamayya, Suman had one more hit Evandi Pelli Chesukondi.

Among the younger generation heroes, Naveen Vadde made a mark with Kodi Ramakrishna’s Pelli. The film introduced a promising star Prithvi Raj to the Telugu screen. While Krishna continues to make his presence felt. Mohan Babu starred in three hits (Adavilo Anna, Annamayya and Collector Garu) and two flops (Adirindi Alludu and Veedevadandi Babu). Chiranjeevi’s kid brother Pawan Kalyan had a hit, Gokulamlo Seetha (Muthyala Subbiah).

Among the heroines, Soundarya continues to dominate the Telugu scene with hits like Pellichesukundam, Dongaata and Aropranam. Ramya Krishna succeeded in changing her image from a glamour girl to a seasoned performer with Aahwanam (SV Krishna Reddy) and Evandi Pellichesukondi (Sarath). Vijaya Shanti starred in one big hit, Osey Ramulamma and a flop Rowdy Durbar. Sakshi Sivanand had two hits, Master and Collector Garu. Simran in Priya O Priya (Muppalaneni Siva), Rasi in Subhakankshalu (Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao) and Gokulamlo Seetha and Maheswari in Pelli made their mark. However, the find of the year is Laila, who was discovered by SV Krishna Reddy. He introduced her with the successful movie, Egirepavurama.

Among the directors the old guard continued to dominate the scene. K Raghavendra Rao, Dasari Narayana Rao, Muthyala Subbiah, Kodi Ramakrishna, Sarath and B Gopal had a successful reign. EVV Sathyanarayana and SV Krishna Reddy had a mixed year. Some of their films were hits and some misses. Krishna Reddy’s attempt to become a hero with Ugadi came unstuck. Both these directors however, continue to be hot property. Among the younger directors, mention must be made of Suresh Krishna, Muppalaneni Siva, Sivanageswar Rao, Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao, Jayanth and Gunashekhar who had a rewarding year. Gunashekhar’s experiment of making Ramayanam with child stars was a success.

Among the music directors, Koti, for the third year in a row, composed music for the maximum number of movies. Vandemataram Srinivas changed track from red films to love stories. Keeravani was applauded for his music in Annamayya. Deva made his entry into Telugu with Master. Others in the limelight were Srinivasa Chakravarthy, Mahesh and Sashi Preetham.

On the whole, it was a year of mixed fortunes for Telugu films. The fact that filmmakers have started waking up to the fact that cliches and big stars are no longer a sure means of success, augurs well for the Telugu film industry. Like in the golden era of the 60s and the early 70s, content backed by interesting presentation seems to be becoming more important than the so-called masala and big names. This awareness may lead to better cinema this year — hopefully.