The last time I stood in a long queue for a movie ticket was when one of my oldest friends Gayatri and I decided to watch ‘Kick’ at Odeon theatre on the first day – or was it the second? – I don’t quite remember. But that was something because two hours later we had those tickets in hand and watched a movie that was awesome!

Now. In 2015. What is being called by many as the “biggest motion picture” (I wouldn’t comment till I watch it. But loving the big canvas it has been made on) caught my fancy and I decided to experience the euphoria surrounding it myself. And so, I started very early and spent a tiresome 3 hours 45 minutes in acquiring the much hyped tickets.

But let me tell you that it wasn’t easy even though the ladies’ queue is not very long. There was pushing, pinching (no kidding!) and even foul mouthing going on. People spoke about principles when someone went past them in the queue. But interestingly, it was these “moral people” who rushed ahead the first chance they got forgetting all the rules they were preaching.

Here are my tickets!

Sadly, even though I reached very early I didn’t know that it wasn’t punctuality but wittiness that would get you the tickets. They came in royally just on time and managed to bag more tickets than me and that too a cool half an hour before I did! I was given only two tickets (poor sleep-deprived me was obviously frustrated).

But I did get the tickets for a show on the first day. No recommendations. Not in black. All my own hard work. As my sister and brother walk into the cinema hall with those tickets in hand on Friday evening, they would definitely have no idea how proud I must be feeling that I managed to send them in there!

Braving that crowd, I felt like a soldier because it was worse than a darshanam at Tirumala!

However, the reality check I was talking about is here. It don’t think I have ever shared a public video on Facebook. And in an instinctive moment, I just shot the scene at Prasadz and posted it online. Little did I know at that point what would follow.

By afternoon, I was receiving a lot of friend requests on Facebook and I began to wonder what the reason could be. After reaching office, I realised that 67 people had shared the video. Frankly, I was excited at first! Duh! My “piece of work” had interested so many people, why wouldn’t I be? It is the first time something like this has happened and this could probably be the last too.

As the excitement slowly faded away, I was surprised because the video had nothing in it. Really! Except a huge crowd of people standing in queue and screaming for some 32 seconds, there was nothing.

I know there has been so much of euphoria surrounding ‘Baahubali’ but the frequency at which people were sharing the video, it dawned on me the extent to which the frenzy has caught up.

To all those who are giving in to the excessive advertising, let me tell you that every organisation, company will ballyhoo its product as if it is the most outstanding of the world’s creations. So is the case with this film touted to be a “magnum opus”.

https://www.facebook.com/pranitaravi/videos/10154006359107501/

While I write this blog post, the video has been shared 380 times, has been viewed 20,790 times and liked some 310 times. Neither am I trying to brag about it nor do I feel it’s an achievement. I am just trying to reflect upon my earlier comment about the ballyhoo. Give in to the hype, but don’t sink in it. Enjoy the film because the fantasy genre isn’t something Telugu cinema offers every day.

Also, I am having my share of a celebrity moment thanks to people’s constant friend requests, pokes, follows!! :P The video has been used by some news channels and video portals too. And an article in one newspaper mentions about it as well.

That said and done, I am really looking forward to the film. But with mixed emotions.

Note: I am journalist. But I do not feel ashamed to give in to the hype because I am a human being first and more importantly an avid lover of cinema! Moreover, I am not a big fan of all of Rajamouli’s work because every time I watch some of his films, I wonder whether he feels embarrassed watching some of the scenes he shot.

I haven’t shared anything related to the movie in any of my social media platforms before and I decided to make an exception this week because a lot of things – mostly negative are happening around the film. I would probably write about that in my next blog post. Or not!

In times when social media is proving to be a stimulant for aspiring filmmakers, filmmaker duo Subash Chandra and Dheeraj Raju are the perfect example of how the platform can be leveraged as a tool to showcase one’s talent on an experimental basis. In conversation with Atinarp, they talk about their journey and how they want to now make a feature film

Meet Subash Chandra, 25 and Dheeraj Raju, 25, two friends whose passion for cinema has been such that in a span of six and a half years, the duo has helmed 100 short films spanning across various genres and are now gearing up to make their feature film debut.

Subash Chandra and Dheeraj Raju

For those who have a keen interest in following short films, their banner MR Productions must be a familiar name. Interestingly, the name is an acronym formed by merging the first letters of both their engineering colleges – MVGR College of Engineering and Raghu Engineering College. “We were encouraged a great deal by our college management as well as seniors and juniors. We decided this would be our ode to them,” share the duo who has been friends since they were studying Intermediate and are residents of Visakhapatnam.

“The first short film we ever made was in 2008 when we decided to enroll in a competition. Our film was appreciated and that gave us a boost to pursue it,” says Subash as Dheeraj adds, “From then on, we continued participating in several contests and all the films were funded by our family members.”

And with most of their entries winning some kind of recognition, they decided to make short films more often. However, it was not until 2012 that after pursuing other interests, they decided films is what they want to do for the rest of their lives. “We moved to Hyderabad because this is the heartland of films and decided to put in more serious efforts,” avers Subash.

The USP of MR Productions is their ability to make “an effective film which is a quality product and is yet made at a very low budget”. “In fact, the first few films we made were on a zero budget. We took easy locations, had mostly our friends – classmates, juniors and seniors from college – and family members starring in our films. Even now, we have grown so much as a team that 90 per cent of our crew is mostly our college mates,” Dheeraj reveals.

On the sets of one of their films, Subash (left) and Dheeraj (right) 

“And over time, our films were being viewed by so many people online that the money generated through YouTube would suffice for our next film,” he adds.

Subashadds to that, “After completion of around 75 films, we decided to experiment with bigger budgets. And that’s when we started shooting on a large scale.”

However, it was their 100th film ‘Prayanam’ that was done on a mammoth note when compared to their standards. “We decided that since it was a landmark film and also since we wanted to make a feature film next replete with all the elements in a full-fledged film– songs, schedules, set design and even cameo appearances – we decided to do it on a !” he adds.

MR Productions' 100th film 'Prayanam'

They plan to keep working together always and have even planned their education in that way. “We were offered a film by ‘Uyyala Jampala’ producer Ram Mohan. But at that time we felt the need to be well-versed in the grammar of film making. I studied Editing and Sound Design at LV Prasad Film & TV Academy (Chennai) and Dheeraj went for a course on Direction and Screenwriting at Annapurna International School of Film & Media (Hyderabad). The film schools provided us the opportunity to ensure we are well-versed with the nitty-gritties of filmmaking,” Subhash explains.

With highly successful films like ‘Blind Date’, ‘Pelli Pustakam’, ‘Possessiveness’, ‘Prayanam’ and ‘Sambar Idly’ bringing them recognition, they say the only reason they have grown is constant feedback from viewers. “We were novices when we began. There wasn’t any kind of training and so we learnt mostly from the internet.We take viewers’ feedback very seriously and try to improve. Every film of ours has been a part of the learning curve. It’s like 100 films were 100 lessons or more!” says the duo who have been instrumental in introducing actors like Raj Tarun and Chandini who have made their way into Tollywood.

After their long expedition in the world of films, they are finally ready to venture into mainstream cinema. “We have approached a few producers who have shown interest in our script too. Let’s see how things pan out,” they say in unison.

The only vague memory of Niagara Falls is that of school, when a teacher told us in a Geography class about its magnificence. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision that one day not only would my eyes encounter the breathtaking beauty but also my fingertips would feel those droplets of water as they sprinkle on me…

To be truthful, the beauty of this cascade of water never struck me as we first drove along it. Yes, it was remarkable, no doubt. But it didn’t really strike me how beautiful this water body is till we reached the 48^th floor of our hotel, which gave us a stunning view of the natural beauty that the Niagara is. To say I was captivated would be an understatement because as soon as I peeped out of the window, the only word my mouth uttered in reflex was – ‘Wow!’ – definitely with an exclamation. And that’s a lot more than captivated… I would call it entranced.

Me and the Niagara

When finally the time came for us to take a boat ride into the falls, my appreciation for this beautiful sight increased exponentially. As if to make me fall in love, it started raining… I wasn’t actually getting drenched considering we have to wear a poncho to get in, but even otherwise I wouldn’t mind because I was drenched more in the flow of amazement and wonder. As we went close, I realized what I saw from the hotel room was just a preview to a delightful natural wonder that I was going to witness.

A random moment...
You can see the mist behind

And then was the nighttime walk along the water body. I can’t be sure whether it was the rainbow lights that made the water glow or the natural grandeur of the night but this sight was an altogether different experience. With water rising like mist from the humongous falls, Niagara is definitely a sight one can never forget. Even from a far off distance, the sight cannot be missed and even as we left the place, though the waterfalls were far from visibility, the mist (wonder what that’s called) accompanied us for a distance on our way back.

But the trip to Niagara was just the cake and I should tell you the yummy icing was the journey we took to reach it. Living in Hyderabad, the actual meaning of the “fall” season doesn’t really connect with us. But this time it was different for me; I saw the myriad colours of this season. From red to yellow to pink… leaves of all colours. They radiated a warmth that still gives me a feel of relaxation.

Ahh… this trip I will cherish all my life. Wondering why? I got to appreciate nature at its best! And to those people who might be thinking that India has multitudinous such wonders, I should say I concur with you. However, I will add that while I am there work always beckons. But now I am on a holiday and this time in my life may never come again!

It would be no understatement to say that America is a land of bewilderment for most Indians.

It was evident from the fact that people actually “congratulated” me when I told them I would be going there on a holiday! (Duh!! I didn’t receive the Nobel prize or something)

Anyway I was excited anyway… Not because it’s America but because I would get to see new places (isn’t that awesome?), live with my uncle, aunt and cousins – something I have never done before…

Considering I just landed here and it hasn’t been much time, I do not really have much to share about this place. Instead all I have is a flashback of thoughts that make me realize that any new place is worth the effort that it takes to reach here

I cannot predict the future or something but I will definitely cherish this trip for one reason. And here it is. When I was studying my engineering, I always thought I would be jobless in the future and I would have no future. The feeling had got into me mostly due to the fact that I constantly failed… understood neither the head nor the tail of the subjects they taught there. I had resigned myself to believe that that was it! But that was only for a while… I realized that though all my classmates studied well, got all the marks and were going to be “placed” in MNCs, I had the desire to do something different and I was confident I would be able to.

Thanks to my uncle (who I am visiting now! And I should say I love him!) I landed a job immediately after college – a feat which most of my “passing” classmates couldn’t do. I know I am going out of track here… But this will tell you why I cherish the trip.

Okay so I landed the job and that was in 2011… From then… till today I have always been working… doing some or the other course, a part-time job, a full-time job or something else.

And finally now I get sometime for myself… to have fun and enjoy.

I am glad…. Very glad… 

Many colleges in the two states are known to organise industrial tours without taking necessary precautions and allowing the students to call the shots.  The recent Beas tragedy opens a can of worms

There's anger and grief over the callousness of the college authorities of VNR VJIET that resulted in 24 students being washed away in the Beas River. While the search is still on for the bodies of the students, the tragic deaths raise serious questions on the functionality of the so-called industrial/educational tours.

The JNTU authorities have been quick to issue a circular to impose a ban on such tours and many in academic circles welcome it as they feel that though the intent of industrial tours is good, they have been reduced to mere pleasure trips, as it was revealed in an interaction with the faculty and administrators.

The present scenario

The ‘educational tour’ scenario today is a completely opposite to what it was in 1980s and 1990s. 

Jaganmohan Gandhi, a 47-year-old ex-engineering student, says, “Industrial tours were generally plannedfor a period of five to six days. But it was all about learning something new everyday.”

A serious effort to conduct an industrial tour involves a few months of advanced planning – fixing appointments with industries, interviews with key personnel, availability of free time for demonstrating the functioning of machinery, logistics, etc.

In fact, many colleges organise educational tours which are nothing but an excursion in disguise.

To make it sound like an educational tour, there is a mention of a visit to an industry. For instance, the schedule for an engineering college mentions Gurgaon industrial city with no specific company being mentioned. In fact, the entire schedule is so tight that the Gurgaon visit becomes a casualty even as students are herded from one place to another without proper rest, says Sai Pratheeka Reddy, an ex-student of CBIT who had been to a similar tour from her college.

Another student, Subramanyam, studying his BTech 4th year in Computer Science from Aurora College of Engineering and Techonology confirms this as he says, “As part of  our tour itinerary, we had a visit to Samsung in Noida. But after a jam-packed schedule to various locations around Kullu-Manali, we didn’t really have the time. Though we did visit the place, we had to cut short the time.”

Planned and executed by the students

The most interesting aspect about these industrial tours is that they are a student initiative, in general. The students are actively involved in planning the entire trip and the college is approached only for permissions. Sree Devi, studying 4th year BTech IT at Vasavi College of Engineering, says, “It’s the students who take an initiative to plan the entire trip. Some departments that didn’t get permission left on their own. The department who got permission took the lecturers with them.”

Her views are echoed by Ramya Sri who went on a tour with her classmates in the previous academic year. “It’s the students who are interested to go on the tours and so it is obvious they take the initiative.”

Big money involved

Further, there is big money involved in arranging for tickets, accommodation and other logistics and the managements seem to encourage the students for the tours. “Kullu-Manali” seems to be the favourite place for almost all engineering colleges. And tour operators charge anywhere between Rs 6,500 to Rs 10,000 per student depending on the facilities provided.

Cashing in on the craze among students and colleges competing to send students on tours, operators based in Hyderabad with branches in Delhi have come up with special packages and tight schedules brushing aside the difficulties faced by students while on tour. The credential of some of these tour operators is questionable. 

Recreation or education?

A faculty member from a renowned college in Hyderabad says on condition of anonymity, “Students evince superficial interest in the laboratory work but insist on going on an educational tour.  This is only an excuse to have a gala time.” His observation is echoed by Ravi Teja Jayanthi, a B Tech 4th year student at Bharath College of Engineering & Technology, who says, “What fun would it be to go for an educational tour and not see anything around? It would probably be nice for a day or two but after that we’d like to have something nice to view!”

Blame it on the ills of the age of the youngsters who want to indulge in every moment of their newfound freedom, says J Ratnamala, a parent of Amulya, a 3rd year BTech graduate in Kakinada.

Parental interest

Should students be solely blamed for such tours? Is there a role for the parents? Several people on being interviewed said that parents ought to take more interest regarding what their wards are up to, on and off campus. An administrator at the Nizam Institute of Engineering and Technology lamented, “We see parents at the time of admission but not many turn up for the parent-teacher meetings. They hardly get to know what the student is doing at college.”

In the recent event, a parent was surprised to know that his son was part of the tour. Is it dereliction of parental obligation or fault of the student? Says a senior professor in Osmania University College of Arts and Social Sciences, “When we organised educational tours in our department, we took various permissions and arranged for students to get maximum opportunities to see and learn. But we found a few students keen to go shopping and visit recreational places. There was a stage when students with bare minimum attendance turned up for the educational tour as the department would subsidise the trip and arrange for accommodation. Over the years, it was advisable for the department to drop the educational tour from the curriculum and plan for local field visits.”

In these circumstances, is putting a cap on such tours the answer? The answer is debatable.

BUT WHERE’RE THE STARS?

We are one as ‘Tollywood’ for as long as most people connect to it in the spirit of Telugu. However, with a new state comes a new dawn. The dawn is for everything – opportunities, way of life, culture and a lot more. And the same dawn is what film-makers from Telangana are looking for in the industry as well.  But is that what ‘Telugu’ film-makers want?

Still from 'Komaram Bheem'

The Telugu film industry is one of the most prolific in the world of big screen entertainment. Catering to the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh, the industry has boomed without bounds and has forever been progressing. However, with nearly 100 years of Telugu cinema behind us, the Telangana region hasn’t really got its due and has been unable to make an impact. The Telangana flavour has failed to make its

presence felt in the films and finally when it had, the dialect was used to lampoon characters, as an element of comedy or to show some negativity a la, a villain. Comedian Venu Madhav’s

character in ‘Sye’ and Kota Srinivasa Rao’s negative role in ‘Gaayam’ are a few examples to

name a few.

In spite of this, Tollywood has seen a larger share of its collections from the Nizam region, for the past three decades, with Hyderabad contributing a lion’s share towards it.

Also, over the years, while many artistes and technicians from the Seemandhra regions made inroads into the industry, technicians and artistes from Telangana got a raw deal. Even among renowned actors, except for Nithiin and Srihari, others failed to make an impact.

Amidst the furore of the new state, there arises a new question - Does Telangana need a film industry of its own? Yes, say people from the industry.

Still from 'Rajanna'

What exactly will be the ‘T’ film industry?

There have been several discussions about subjects from Seemandhra dominating the film scene and also how very few films with Telangana backdrop were being showcased. So the Telangana film industry will have more realistic subjects a la ‘Maa Bhoomi’, ‘Rangula Kala’, ‘Daasi’, ‘Jai Bolo Telangana’ and ‘Rajanna’ to name a few and the language, dress and culture would reflect the region,

insist film-makers from the 29th state of India.

The ‘star’ quotient

The Telugu industry is mostly star-driven and the audiences are attracted to watch films with big names on the posters. With icons like Nagarjuna, Pawan Kalyan, Mahesh Babu, NTR Jr, Prabhas and Allu Arjun among others ruling the roost, the focus again goes back to the fact that they all belong to the

Andhra region.

What goes into making of a star from Telangana industry?

“Stars are born, not made,” says producer Nikitha Reddy, sister of actor Nithiin, the only star from

Telangana who is giving his colleagues from Seemandhra a run for their money.

There is no dearth of talent from the region. Directors like Harish Shankar, Surender Reddy, Vamsi Paidipally and Nandini Reddy have made a mark in Tollywood. Producer Dil Raju is another name to reckon with from Telangana.

Is star the only criteria?

The industry, of late, has seen an emergence of small films, without any star’s involvement,

minting money at the box-office. A case in point is director Shekhar Kammula who made

successful movies devoid of stars.

“A star confines your options, hence you have to make movies to suit his image and his fans expectations,” says Allani Sreedhar, director of award winning film ‘Komaram

Bheem’.

But director N Shankar, who made films like ‘Jayam Manade Raa’, ‘Sri Ramulaiah’ and ‘Jai Bolo Telangana’ says that the problem is with the allocation of theatres. “Small movies find it difficult to get theatres and do not get the exposure they need,” he opines. So that makes one wonder if a star is necessary for a movie reaching an audience.

Tollywood is one

Still from 'Bathukamma'

Niktha Reddy, however, feels that the bifurcation doesn’t mean that there is a requirement of a new industry.

“We are the Telugu industry. Tollywood is one,” she avers. She further elucidates that it’s not the region but the talent that matters.

“We are accepting girls coming from Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and elsewhere. So why make a divide and distinction now?,” she says.

The government’s role

If the Telangana government is open to incentives and subsidies, there is a chance for the Telangana industry to grow rapidly, experts add. Director N Shankar admits, “If the new government gives subsidies to producers who are making Telangana films, it will surely be a motivational factor.” Vijayender Reddy, president, Telangana Film Chamber, a front runner when it comes to representing Telangana films, however, asks for a new Government Order (GO) that makes it obligatory for producers across the industry to hire a percentage of technicians from the region, to promote talent from the region. He says, “The GO should make it compulsory for all producers to have at least 60 per cent of team members from here. It’s only then that we can bring talent from here, resulting in the boom of Telangana industry.”

The open audience

The biggest doubt that lies is whether the audience, used to potboilers dished out by filmmakers who have their roots from Seemandhra, will accept this new kind of cinema?

“The answer is yes. Because audiences, in general, have an open mind and accept films if they have alluring content irrespective of  the cultural essence of it. Films like ‘Jai Bolo Telangana’ and ‘Rajanna’ drew crowds in Seemandhra in spite of the Telangana flavour. It is the emotional content that people connect to. Don’t they watch dubbed Tamil and English films? This will be the same,” insists Allani Sreedhar.

Did you ever realise that social networking has made your life very funny? No? Neither did we till we came across this video

Duram unollu daggara avutunnaaru… Daggarunnollu duram avutunnaru are the closing lines of Raghu Kunche’s latest song ‘Social network andi babu’, a track he composed for upcoming film ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’. The line which translates to “Distant people are becoming closer… and distance is growing between people who are close” is a perfect ending to the song which is a very interesting satire on the social media.

What’s more interesting is that the hottest thing for the present generation – social media – is explained using a traditional folk art, the Burrakatha. And interestingly it is the Burrakatha format that seems to have caught fancy with listeners.

Sirasri and Raghu Kunche

The song which is fast catching up with people is a peppy number and is a reflection of the social networking culture where people’s lives revolves around Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook, Twitter and the likes. As the composer puts it, it’s a “creative dig” on the social media.

Says composer Raghu Kunche, “The film revolves around social media and we wanted to compose something on that topic. After a few discussions I suggested that we make a Burrakatha. The director was skeptical as he wanted all the songs in the film to be breezy with soft music. He was afraid this one song would give it a mass feel.”

However, Kunche managed to convince director Manjunath and the next step was to compose the lyrics and lyricist Sirasri was roped in for penning the song that was to be used while the titles rolled. But the song turned out fine and they decided to release it as a promotional video for the film.

Still from the video

Lyricist Sirasri says that the process of writing wasn’t a difficult task considering everyone from the team is active on social media these days. “Being active on various social media platforms, we obviously know how things works and that is where the lyrics originated from. With that experience we wrote so many lines and in the end took the ones we felt are best.”

The video which also stars Junior Relangi and Noel was shot in around four hours in a local train full of people. It starts from the time when pigeons used to deliver messages, and then travel to the time of telegraph. It further goes on to the era of the STD booths and coin boxes before it finally lands in the present day social networking world.

While every line is a reflection of the times, the closing lines we talked about in the beginning make you think harder. Did those lines register hard? Yes? It seems the same for both the lyricist and composer who express their liking for that single line through the whole song and ponder over how much meaning it conveys.

But if we keep the liking aside, the lines do spell out some element of truth, don’t they?

A look at 'Strangerssss'

The fact that Hyderabad has become a home to many budding filmmakers is being proved time and again. Gaining both international and national recognition is becoming synonymous with most of them. And amongst them is another young and promising director Jennifer Alphonse whose 27-minute short film ‘Strangerssss’ has been selected to be part of the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival 2014.

So how was the feeling to be recognised and called to be part of one of the biggest international festivals in the world? “When we first got the email, we just kept looking at it for two to three days! We couldn’t digest it. It was our first attempt to send a film to Cannes and we made it. It was when the official website included our name that the whole thing managed to sink in,” says an obviously elated Jennifer.

The idea for the film struck Jennifer five years ago when she read an article in the newspaper and then the story took shape. She says, “I read about how a taxi driver went out of his way to help a foreigner and I realised that while the whole world was projecting India as an “unsafe country,” there are people who make a difference. It’s not the country but the people here that make it what it is. There’s a dialogue in my film ‘Where there is a good, there is a bad too’ and that is exactly what made me come up with this story.”

Jennifer Alphonse

Pitobash Tripathy plays one of the two key characters in the film and the director is all praise for him. He says, “He didn’t charge us anything for the film. He’s busy with his first Hollywood film ‘Million Dollar Arm’ but still made time for us and came all the way to shoot for the film.” And what about the foreigner? “Nesa is a student from Osmania University studying genetics and we selected her after a lot of auditions. You wouldn’t know this is her first time in front of the camera!”

But the greatest support came for Jennifer when K Basi Reddy of DigiQuest came in to fund her film. “Till then everyday I would wonder how the next day would be. It wasn’t easy,” she smiles.

While Cannes is a big leap and a great achievement, a huge recognition isn’t the first time for Jennifer who won the Nandi Award for another short film ‘Kachra’ in 2009. The talented director has also assisted renowned director Krishna Vamsi in the 2005 film ‘Danger’ and attributes ‘everything’ to him. “It’s from him I learnt everything. It was just like a film school,” she explains about her experience working with him.

Meanwhile there is a message that the film would give to its audience – “In our country, we should treat guests as God. If not God, at least as human beings.”

With a stint in short films and also a feature film does she plan to make a feature film herself? “Oh yes! I am writing a script. Will soon be making my feature film debut!”

‘Vikrama Simha’ – Rajinikanth, 63, and Deepika Padukone, 28

‘Masala’ – Venkatesh, 53 and Anjali, 27

‘Policegiri’ – Sanjay Dutt, 54 and Prachi Desai, 25

It is a cliché we’re used to seeing on screen. Be it in Bollywood or Tollywood, actors don’t bat an eyelid when it comes to the wrong casting.  A veteran actor with shades to cover his wrinkles, a wig to mask his bald pate and a belt to hold up his paunch, and right next to him is his ‘ladylove,’ a pretty, young actress on the throes of youth. In most cases, the actress would have literally grown up watching his movies.

The latest example is 52-year-old Rajashekar’s under production film, ‘Gaddam Gang’.  The actor recently drew flak for posing with the actress of the film, Sheena Shahabadi, 28, who appeared like his daughter next to him. Sheena was replaced in the nth hour after the original choice - Anjali Lavania of ‘Panjaa’ fame - opted out of the film.  However, the interesting thing is that this trend isn’t new to the industry and goes back to the 70s and 80s when en masse hero worship was at its zenith.

Says Telugu film historian, Mamidi Harikrishna, “The film industry is male-dominated and we all are part of a patriarchal society. During the time of NTR and ANR, audiences worshipped them and it was that devotion which made them forgo the factor of age and accept them romancing young heroines.”

The heroine’s career

“A heroine has a short career span in the film industry and there is a constant lookout for a new look and young faces. So out went Anjali, Krishna Kumari and the likes, and enter Sridevi, Jayaprada, Jayasudha and a slew of other new generation of actresses,” he adds.

Interestingly Sridevi had played granddaughter to NTR in the film ‘Badi Pantulu’, and a few years later, she was seen serenading him with moves and grooves.

Harikrishna says that the reason for a heroine’s career span being shorter to the hero’s can be mostly attributed to the audiences’ acceptability. “There is a great discrimination between male and female here. A hero is accepted regardless of his age or fitness levels. But unfortunately, the audiences expect the heroines to look fresh and youthful,” explains Harikrishna. Trade analyst Komal Nahta, in an interview to a prominent film magazine: says, "If the audience can accept an older hero, why isn't the same logic applied to heroines as well?”

The heroine’s ‘dream’

At a point of time, actresses were in awe of working with legends like NTR, ANR and later Chiranjeevi. But today, the trend has changed and actresses these days are boldly saying no. Understanding that the pairing looks “unusual”, many renowned heroines are giving a firm rejection to such roles offered to them. There are instances where Anushka, Nithya Menen and Kajal Aggarwal refused films which required them to romance the ageing Superstars of Tollywood.

The spiral

The 70s and 80s saw a great impetus in the combination of the aging hero and the young heroine. However, after NTR’s political entry in 1983 and the emergence of a young brigade of heroes –

Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna, Suman, Venkatesh et al, audience again saw the young heroes opposite young heroines. It is ironical how Sridevi, who romanced ANR in ‘Premabhishekam’ was also seen alongside his son Nagarjuna in films like ‘Aakari Poratam’, ‘Khuda Gawah’ and ‘Govinda Govinda’.

But later, once the young brigade of the 80s and 90s started ageing, the trend came a full circle again. Chiranjeevi started romancing young girls like Trisha and Shriya before bidding adieu to films.  Unable to get top heroines on board, Balakrishna had to content with the likes of Sneha Ullal and Radhika Apte who are half his age.  Nagarjuna and Venkatesh too went for young girls like Anshu, Shriya, Aarti Aggarwal, Poonam Bajwa and Charmee among others.

We now have another young brigade of actors like Prabhas, NTR, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan, Ram etc. and after a decade or so this trend is going to repeat because they will have begun to age and the audiences’ demands will be the same. So is this like a cycle that repeats itself? Film enthusiasts would rather call it “a spiral” which just keeps continuing.

A change probably? “No!” says Harikrishna adding that “until the society’s ideology and point of view doesn’t change, this will remain the same.”