2017 Game Changer For Tollywood?

P. Manasa

The year 2017 in Tollywood was the year of the Davids over Goliaths.Small budget films took centrestage overshadowing star-driven movies and hogging the limelight from mainstream cinema. How often does this happen? Jog your memory on when such a phenomenon last happened, while we update you on the year that's fast fading away.

Telugu cinema as an industry, is undergoing a makeover of sorts and small budget films laced with good content are ready to take on the commercial flicks. Tollywood has come of age do you think?

Small budget films like Mental Madhilo and Malli Raava, among others to name some, may not have raked in mega bucks on par with big-ticket films but they were successful enough to pull in crowds to the theaters unlike much-hyped movies like SPYder which despite an impressive star cast bombed at the box-office.

As we come to the year-end, we bring to you some of the films which came as a breath of fresh air. They showcased a slice-of-life and featured characters the audiences could relate to. No wonder they had crowds rooting for them.

The film that took the world by storm and brought laurels to the South and Telugu cinema in particular, is a film that will bring you no points for guessing. Baahubali 2, which mirrored SS Rajamouli's leap of faith turned him into the Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Indian and particularly, Telugu cinema. Baahubali 2 was one of the highest grossing Indian films and transcended all impediments posed by “regional” faces.

Then we had Praveen Sattaru’s PSV Garuda Vega which kept you hooked from the start-till-the end. One rarely gets to see such well executed action films in Telugu cinema.The movie, filled with high-octane scenes on par with Hollywood films, came out of nowhere, driving the box-office through the roof. The film has a fresh plot about a hacker and how an NIA officer unravels a massive scam. It marks hero Rajasekhar’s big comeback and also raised the bar for other filmmakers.

Apart from action films, romance is another familiar genre in Tollywood cinema. But Sekhar Kammula’s Fidaa was not a run-of the-mill romance of the mushy kind. Sai Pallavi breezed her way into the hearts of Telugu movie-lovers with her authentic Telangana dialect. Sekhar is known to weave nuances in relationships and Fidaa portrays how two individuals coming from diverse backgrounds come together rising above their differences. Sekhar deserves to be commended for giving the lead actress a meaty role.

In the genre of comedy we also had Anando Brahma and Ami Thumi, made on shoe-string budgets, but doing well at the ticket window. Directed by Mahi V Raghav, horror comedy Anando Brahma’s hero is based on a strong script and has a good cast. It has Srinivas Reddy, Vennela Kishore, Tagubothu Ramesh and Shakalaka Shankar. More often than not, comedians are not given a full-fledged role in a film. They appear for the most part only to break the monotony of narration or action, momentarily. But Anando Brahma is an exception, as it widens the comedian's horizons.

Another comedy flick that was the highlight of the year was Mohan Krishna Indraganti’s screwball comedy Ami Thumi. The entire plot is centred on a day. Srinivas Avasarala introduced by Indrganti in Ashta Chamma is a delight to watch. Vennala Kishore brings the house down with his one-liners. Apart from Fidaa, even this film didn’t shy away from using Telangana dialect. The two couples Adivi Sesh, Eesha Rebban along with Srinivas and Aditi Myakal bring to the table a humorous tale portraying the manner in which they win over their respective fathers.

However, it was Malli Raava and Mental Madhilo which had a fresh approach to handling relationships. A simple story line that tugged at the heart strings of the audience it had a realistic, slice-of-life element to it.

Sumanth’s Malli Raava is a simple tale of childhood love, who meet again as adults serendipitously. The director Gowtam Tinnanuri uses the technique of simple narration with well-knit intricacies which add depth to the film. Nani’s Ninu Kori was another stand-out film dealing with a heartbroken man and how he moves on life, rather seeking out revenge from his former ladylove. Akhil’s Hello stood out not only as relaunch-pad for him but for offering old wine in a new bottle avoiding absurdity.

And finally, the movie which was talked at length across Telugu states stoking controversy was Arjun Reddy. Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s titular character Arjun Reddy, certainly has shortcomings but the movie emerges as a sure-fire winner. It clearly stands out as a game changer for Telugu cinema. Nothing larger than life, no action sequences, and without songs cropping up for the heck of it, the has a smooth flow, in terms of narration. Shalini Pandey makes a dream debut in the film, but the show stealer was clearly Vijay Devarakonda. Critics panned it for terming it misogynistic, infused with male-toxic masculinity.

What does this tell us, folks? Get the message now--Tollywood is ready to experiment with novel scripts.