2007- A year of mixed fortunes
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urprisingly the year 2007 saw a decline in the number of releases in Telugu when compared to the previous years. There were only 84 straight releases till December 20. Add to this about 60 dubbed films released during the year, the list looks an impressive 140 plus. As actor Mahesh Babu said that ‘the future of the Telugu film industry is now in the hands of the young generation,’ the year clearly belonged to the young directors and stars. But most debut directors failed to hit the bulls eye is another story.
The pleasant news is that though the releases dwindled, the hits were more than the previous year. 2007 opened with a thumping victory, the super duper hit, Desamudhuru directed by Puri Jagannath with Allu Arjun and Hansika Motwani in the lead. Close on the heels came the Venkatesh-starrer, Adavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule directed by Selva Raghavan (Sri Raghava), a huge hit. The three other big hits are Sekhar Kammula’s Happy Days, Lakshyam starring Jagapathi Babu and Gopichand, Rajamouli’s Yamadonga with NTR Jr. in the lead. The hit films are Tulasi, Okkadunnadu, Evadaithe Nakenti, Operation Duryodhana, Yamagola, Athili Sathibabu, Aadivaram Adavallaku Selavu, Chandamama, Madhumaasam, and the recently released Mantra while Dubai Seenu and Dhee termed as above average. Mahesh Babu starrer Athith’ and Ram Charan Tej’s debut film Chirutha opened to fantastic collections. Nagarjuna starrer, Don directed by Lawrence has hit the theatres on December 20 in Nizam and a day later in other areas in the state. Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna drew a blank as both Shankardada Zindabad and Maharadhi proved damp squibs at the turnstile. Chiranjeevi received the prestigious Padma Bhushan and his voluntary organisation the Blood Bank won the State award for the fifth consecutive year.
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Among the dubbed films, Rajnikath’s Sivaji created such an unparalleled hysteria among the cine goers and made record initial collections for any dubbed film in the past 75 years. The craze soon evaporated and none of the sixty plus dubbed films succeeded.
Technologically speaking, Telugu cinema made long strides and again to quote Mahesh Babu, “Telugu cinema today is ahead of other language industries in the South on technical aspects and content.†His Athidhi brought Hindi actor Amrita Rao to the South. “It is indeed the year of the young filmmakers. The redeeming feature is that each one of them brought a different theme and narrative style. When compared to last year, the content and treatment is more novel this year,†opines popular film critic Rentala Jayadeva.
Though 2007 is termed as the year of young talents, the worrying aspect is that most debutants and even some established young directors failed to click. The much-expected Yogi directed by the much successful V.V. Vinayak is an example. And the survival of any language film industry and thousands of its employees depend mostly on the success of low budget films. Chiding the way some of these young directors are treading with cinema, veteran Dasari Narayana Rao who always championed the cause of low budget films said, “The present generation should prove to the world that the Telugu filmmaker first makes the script ready and then goes to the floors. If any one of the young comes with a good script, I am prepared to produce for them.†One aspect the present generation the actors or the directors are forgetting is the importance of the producer. Most of them are treating the producer as a mere cash bag carrier. To quote Dasari, “There must be a bonding between the producer and director. It pains to hear that the producer has become just a cashier today. Instead of committing to pamphlet journalism, the media print as well as television should also come up with proper analysis and criticism for the growth of the industry. When they write or say that every film is a super hit then why the film industry is in dole drums? Some crib about other language directors entering into the Telugu industry. Instead we should think why they are getting the opportunities here and improve ourselves. Again some crib about spiraling costs of production. When actors who are not worth a million rupees for their job are being paid in crores, who should be blamed? A director can create any number of actors.†A basic mantra buried under star domination.
Sekhar Kammula and Krishnavamsy proved with Happy Days and Chandamama respectively,that with rank newcomers and not so established stars, movie wonders can be created. Both the films are big hits and Happy Days made under a four cr. budget and is expected to gross over Rs. 20 cr.
Whatever said and done, Cinema is still a staple diet for many in A P. The industry offers some exciting fare for them in the new year with Balakrishna’s Okka Magaadu directed by the much successful Y.V.S. Chowdhary and also Simran’s comeback film, Dil Raju’s Premikudu with Allu Arjun, Babu Rao’s Ontari with Gopichand-Bhavana and Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi and Venkatesh’s next ventures to roll in January.