Friday Review
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Star power goes phut
M. L. NARASIMHAM
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B-O hits in 2007 proved that audiences are looking for good script and fresh narratives not mere star presence.
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Waning starpower Happy Days turned out to be the highest grosser, while stars like Mahesh Babu, Nagarjuna and NTR Jr faced mixed fortune.
The success ratio fell drastically in 2007 as superstars failed to connect.Compared to the previous years, the number of straight releases dwindled. If it was 134 in 2005 and 114 last year, the number fell to 98 (as on December 21st)) in 2007.
The super hits
The new mantra is to release films with more prints to get back the investment in the first two weeks when ticket prices can be hiked. This of course is possible only for the biggies in the industry and naturally the sufferer is the low budget filmmaker who cannot afford such luxury.
The year opened on a promising note with the big hit, Allu Arjun- Hansika Motwani starrer Desamuduru directed by Puri Jagannath. N.T.R Jr. hit the bull’s eye with S.S. Rajamouli’s Yamadonga, a socio-mythological-fantasy. The Jagapathi Babu, Gopichand, Anushka starrer Lakshyam also made it to the superhit grade. But it is Sekhar Kammula’s all-new star cast campus story, Happy Days that turned out to be the highest grosser of the year. Made at a cost of Rs. 4 crore, it grossed Rs. 15 crore in Nizam area alone.
The hits
Venkatesh had two releases Adavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule (Venkatesh and Trisha) and Tulasi (with Nayanatara) directed by Boyapati Srinu and both were hits. The other films that fared well were- Chandra Sidhardh’s Madhumaasam with Sumanth, Sneha and Parvathi Melton in the lead. Rajasekhar tasted success with Evadaithe Nakenti directed by V. Samudra and Jeevitha. Krishnavamsy’s Chandamama , E.V.V. Sathyanarayana’s Athili Sathibabu and G. Nageswara Reddy’s Seema Sastry both starring `Allari’ Naresh, Srinu Vytla’s Vishnu-Srihari-Genelia starrer Dhee and Dubai Seenu (Ravi Teja and Nayanatara), Posani Krishnamurali’s Operation Duryodhana with Srikanth, Raja Vannem Reddy’s Aadivaram Aadavallaku Selavu, Srinivasa Reddy’s Yamagola with Srikanth and Venu and the recently released Charmee-starrer, Mantra.
The losers
Chiranjeevi couldn’t recreate the Sankaradada MBBS magic in its sequel Sankardada Zindabad directed by Prabhu Deva. Box office success eluded Balakrishna as Maharadhi failed to click. After a 15-month sabbatical, Nagarjuna Akkineni returned with Don directed by Lawrence. Released on December 20, the film opened to houseful collections but trade pundits predict its doom. Among the dubbed films, Sivaji made decent profits but in some areas, the buyers lost some money as it was priced high. None of the other sixty odd dubbed films released during the period tasted success.
Corporate entry
Pyramid Saimira was the first corporate house to enter Telugu film industry. In Hyderabad alone, Saimira released the film in a record 40 theatres. But the first film to be released through a corporate group is Mahesh-Amritha Rao starrer, Athidhi directed by Surender Reddy. However Athidhi did not reach anywhere near Mahesh’s last hit, Pokiri. Reliance group’s Adlabs is soon to join the bandwagon by producing Telugu films.
Save the low budget cinema
The slogan now is to `save the low budget cinema.’ About 50 films are in various stages of production in this category. Dasari himself stated that he would `produce low budget films if anyone approaches him with a good script.’ Our filmmakers should develop the culture of making movies aimed at the multiplex audiences like in Hindi and Tamil. It is a myth that such films do not appeal to the B and C audiences. Happy Days proved it wrong as the `multiplex cinema’ invaded even the D and E centres.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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