It is evident that the Telugu film industry has been conscious of a paradigm shift, from whatever little the first half of this year suggests. Surprisingly, a majority of them have inched back to old school narratives and witnessed success. On the other hand, there were a bunch of nearly path-breaking ideas that went kaput too.
The start to the year was quite the welcome that Dhanush needed in Telugu with Raghuvaran B.Tech, the dubbed version of his Tamil-blockbuster Velai Illa Pattadhari, primarily working for Kishore Tirumala’s sparkling dialogue and Anirudh Ravichander’s compositions.
Sankranti was expectedly a grand affair with I (Manoharudu) and Gopala Gopala, the starry remake of Umesh Shukla’s Oh My God, two films that nearly ate into each other’s responses at the box-office. While Vikram and Shankar’s I didn’t translate into a wholesome result, Pawan Kalyan’s aura and Venkatesh’s remake specialist tag did help Gopala Gopala’s cause.
The month-end surprise was reserved for Pataas, a result served with an unabashed commercial toast and a comeback that Nandamuri Kalyanram needed in many ways. The Madhura Sreedhar production, Ladies and Gentlemen, opening up on the perils of social media, came as a whiff of fresh air too.
It was a timeless-romance, Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju, made by the Onamalu fame Kranthi Madhav and aided by Gopi Sunder’s mellifluous music score took crowds into a nostalgic ride into the 80s.
In a rather tentative phase for the industry, NTR’s Temper burst the commercial bubble and also helped Puri Jagannadh regain his lost momentum. It was a bonus that it came along with a social commentary, an inspired take on the Nirbhaya-rape case in 2013.
The national award winner Mohanakrishna Indraganti’s Bandipotu, an attempt to give a makeover to Allari Naresh’s comedy actor image, hardly managed to make headlines. Mysskin’s Pisachi wasn’t a commercial successbut it did well to make movie enthusiasts take note of an assured director.
Surya Vs Surya, marking the directorial debut of cinematographer Karthik Ghattamaneni, explored a unique premise with the rare genetic disorder Porphyria, that doesn’t permit the lead character, played by Nikhil to be exposed to sunlight.
As an ideal blend of art and commerce still eluded the hit-starved industry, the beginning of the Telugu year with Ugadi saw Nani’s Yevade Subramanyam, a soothing coming-of-age drama, set trends aside and stick to honest storytelling. Interestingly, the actor had his much delayed Jenda Pai Kapiraju releasing on the same day as well and received better responses for his performance than the film did.
In the meanwhile, another delayed release, YVS Chowdhary’s Rey made noise mostly for the wrong reasons whereas the Gopichand-Rashi Khanna starrer Jil, failed to make the cut despite its musical appeal.
The flavour of the season though, came with the Trivikram directed S/O Satyamurthy, a film with an ensemble cast, comprising Allu Arjun, Samantha, Adah Sharma, Nithya Menen, Upendra and Sneha. Unflustered by the initial mixed responses, the family entertainer got its timing pitch perfect for the summer and had packed crowds lapping it up for quite long.
Mani Ratnam’s simplistic tale, OK Bangaram, with its slice-of-life take on contemporary relationships, boosted by A R Rahman’s music, enjoyed a good reception whereas the Swamy Ra Ra maker’s Dohchay was a so-so affair.
Kamal Haasan’s struggles for a timely release haunted Uttama Villain too, which despite enjoying widespread critical acclaimlike most of his earlier films, was strictly for the intelligentsia. Quite the opposite was true for Lawrence’s third edition of his horror-comedy series, Ganga, which seemed to have got its laughs, chills and the drama in the right mix.
In the heart of the summer season, thanks to IPL, postponements of big budget releases and quality reasons, Dongaata, Lion, Mosagallaku Mosagadu and 365 Days couldn’t make their presence felt. Pandaga Chesko brought in a few formulaic laughs and Suriya’s Rakshasudu was a better idea than a film.
Singham 123 riding on Sampoornesh Babu’s overnight glory of Hrudaya Kaleyam and Akash Puri’s launch pad, Andhra Pori, missed the bus. Asura, in quick succession, proved the credibility in Nara Rohith’s choices, but hardly anything among Kerintha, Jyothi Lakshmi and Krishnamma Kalipindi Iddarni had any novelty around them.
Tiger, the action drama featuring Sundeep Kishan-Rahul Ravindran, was a pleasant surprise that infused life into the box office and it was refreshing to see the boys not fighting over a girl, but for a bigger cause like honour killings. Chintakalaya Ravi’s Jaadogadu with Naga Shaurya didn’t trouble equations much and sank without a trace.
The latter half of the year is expected to take a significant turn with Baahubali’s release , while the stakes are riding high on films such as Rudhramadevi, Srimanthudu, Kick 2, Bengal Tiger and Soggade Chinni Nayana, all featuring big stars and big banners.
THE STORY SO FAR
Biggies:
Gopala Gopala
Son of Satyamurthy
Pataas
Temper
Ganga : Muni 3
I (Manoharudu)
Almost there:
Jil
Surya Vs Surya
Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju
Ladies & Gentlemen
Fresh air:
Raghuvaran B.Tech
Yevade Subramanyam
OK Bangaram
Tiger
Misses:
Rakshasudu
Lion
Uttama Villain
Bandipotu
