ABCD of Telugu cinema

Ready reckoner on the Telugu film industry for audiences in Kerala

July 29, 2015 08:08 pm | Updated 08:08 pm IST

Prabhas in and as Baahubali

Prabhas in and as Baahubali

The Baahubali wave has hit Kerala, and all of a sudden Telugu is hot property. But, for most of us, knowledge of this industry is limited to NTR’s mythological movies and Allu Arjun’s dance moves. Here’s a quick primer on the dynamic Telugu film industry…

A NAGANAGA O DHEERUDU

Disney’s first attempt at South Indian movie production was a classic fairy tale complete with a prince charming (Siddharth), a princess in distress (Shruthi Haasan) and an evil witch (Lakshmi Manchu). Despite lavish sets and excellent production values, it didn’t end happily-ever-after at the box-office.

B RAHMANANDAM

Pick any movie released in the last two decades; odds are high that it would star this talented comedian. An indispensible ingredient for Telugu potboilers since 1987, Brahmanandam reportedly holds the record for starring in most number of movies in a single language. He wasn’t spotted in Baahubali - The Beginning but we’re quite sure that he will pop up in Part 2, given his omnipresence.

C HOREOGRAPHY

Allu Arjun’s immense popularity in Kerala owes quite a lot to his dancing skills. Telugu heroes are indeed a twinkle-toed bunch. This talent is enhanced by choreography, both in dance numbers and song sequences. Magadheera ’s National Award (Best Choreography) citation mentions the “breath-taking energy and innovation” of its song sequences. Sounds like Telugu alright.

D . RAMANAIDU

India’s most prolific film producer, he has more than 150 films in 13 Indian languages to his credit. This Dadasaheb Phalke award recipient established the Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad, thus shifting the industry out of Chennai. His only Malayalam production was Ashwaroodan (2006), starring Suresh Gopi and Padmapriya. After a brief battle with cancer, he passed away in February.

E EGA

Telugu heroes can sing, dance, fight and emote. But then a little guy came along and did even more – he flew. Rajamouli’s 2012 blockbuster featured a murdered hero (Nani, in his shortest-ever lead role) reincarnated as a housefly who wreaks revenge on a hapless villain. As expected, the box-office went into a tizzy. With screenings at Cannes, Shanghai and Toronto, Eega created a buzz in the film festival circuit too.

F AMILY BUSINESS

Telugu filmdom is dominated by a bunch of industrious families. The Nandamuris began with N.T. Rama Rao and include sons Balakrishna and Hari Krishna and grandson Tarak (Junior NTR). The Akkinenis comprise Nageshwara Rao, son Nagarjuna, daughter-in-law Amala and grandsons Naga Chaitanya, Sumanth and Akhil. The three generations co-starred in Manam (2014), shortly before Rao’s death. The Daggubatis include D. Rama Naidu, sons, actor Venkatesh and producer Suresh Babu, and grandson Rana Daggubati. Not to forget the Ghattamenanis, Manchus, Allus...

G EETANJALI

This was Mani Ratnam’s first and only Telugu movie. Unforgettable music, misty frames and hero Nagarjuna in his prime ensured a poignant love story. The hugely popular ‘O priya priya’ song made its way into several languages, and the heroine turned up as Gadha (of Gadha Jam fame) in our own Vandanam .

H YDERABAD

Capital of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, and now capital of Telangana, this is the heart of the Telugu film industry. To spot your favourite stars, head to the posh Jubilee Hills locality. To catch a film shoot, visit the enormous Ramoji Film City. If you’d rather watch a movie, head to Prasad IMAX, which has the second-largest IMAX 3D screen in the world.

“I PPUDU CHOODU”

Surprise, surprise. This super-hit Telugu dialogue is from a Tamil movie. Roughly translated to “Now, LOOK!” these were Rajinikanth’s words before bashing up a few dozen in Shivaji. The rest, as they say, was Superstar history.

J ONNALAGADDA VENKATA SOMAYAJULU

Way back in 1979, a dubbed Telugu movie had stormed the Kerala box office. Starring this genial former-civil-servant, Shankarabharanam captured a Carnatic maestro’s struggle to stay relevant in the age of pop music. It was also the perfect showcase for S.P. Balasubramaniam’s vocal genius.

K EERAVANI

This gifted music director is known by multiple names. As M.M. Kreem in Hindi, he gave us the melodious ‘Tu Mile’ ( Criminal ). As Maragatha Mani, he created magic in Tamil. As Keeravani, we heard his tunes in Soorya Manasam and Devaragam . A cousin of S.S. Rajamouli, he’s behind the music and extraordinary BGM of Baahubali . Also, each language-version of the film credits him with a different name!

L EADER

This is a mini-classic by the torch-bearer of ‘realistic’ commercial cinema, Sekhar Kammula. Leader marked the debut of Rana Daggubati playing a cerebral corporate type who takes over his family business – a political party. Kammula is also the writer-director of Happy Days, which had a happy run in Kerala.

M EGASTAR

If the sole owner of the label ‘Superstar’ is Rajinikanth, ‘Megastar’ belongs to Chiranjeevi alone. Massively popular (that’s an understatement), Chiru retired from films to focus on a political career. His cine legacy remains safe in the hands of his brother Pawan Kalyan, son Ram Charan and nephew Allu Arjun. Grapevine has it that he will soon make a comeback with his 150th film. If true, Baahubali ’s collection records will face its first real threat.

N ANDI AWARDS

The prestigious state awards are named after the big granite bull at Lepakshi. S.P. Balasubramaniam has the most number of Nandis under his belt – 25 in all. At last count, K.S. Chitra had bagged nine. Apart from the regular awards, there is a quaint ‘Akkineni Award for Best Home-viewing Feature Film’ instituted in 1999.

O Y!

After baby Shalini turned heroine with Aniyathipravu , all of Kerala was waiting for baby Shamilee to do the same. She’s done that already. Shamilee played heroine to Siddharth in this tragic love story before disappearing from movies altogether.

P AWANISM

Term used to describe the massive fan following and cult status of Pawan Kalyan, and also his occasional scathing commentaries on political and social issues. PK’s Attarintiki Dharedi was Telugu’s biggest box-office hit before Baahubali rewrote history. His fans insist it’s only a matter of time before Pawanism strikes back.

Q UIRKY LABELS

Tamil heroes have these too, but the Telugu star-labels are no less entertaining: Power Star Pawan Kalyan, Prince Mahesh Babu, Rebel Star Prabhas, Young Tiger NTR junior, Mega Power Star Ram Charan and Stylish Star Allu Arjun, to name a few.

R EBIRTH

Though considered an unlucky theme in other industries, rebirth is an all-time favourite in Telugu. If mixed well with equal parts of revenge and romance, you have a sure-shot recipe for Telugu box-office success. Doesn’t matter if the film revolves around a hero ( Magadheera ), a heroine ( Arundhati ) or even a fly ( Eega ).

S HIVA

This 1989 tale of campus politics was a huge success, and its Hindi remake catapulted lead Nagarjuna and director Ram Gopal Varma into Bollywood. RGV proceeded to make it big with superhits like Rangeela, Satya, Company and Sarkar before losing the plot altogether with Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag .

T OLLYWOOD

Both the Telugu and Bengali industries call themselves Tollywood: the latter because it is based in the Tollygunge precinct of Kolkata. The Tamil industry wisely side-stepped potential mayhem by naming itself Kollywood (thanks to Kodambakkam). Meanwhile Kannada outwitted the whole lot by opting to be Sandalwood.

U LAVACHARU BIRIYANI

This remake of Salt n’ Pepper, starring Prakash Raj and Sneha didn’t fare too well at the box office. Saheba Subramaniam , a remake of Thattathin Marayathu , met the same fate. It turned out to be a case of third-time lucky, with Drushyam (Drishyam) striking gold.

V FX

Baahubali is not an exception but the culmination of a long-standing affair between Telugu filmmakers and visual effects. Apart from Rajamouli’s films, blockbusters like Arundhati and Dhamarukam rank high on quality VFX. A Telugu film need not be period/fantasy to accommodate VFX. Case in point: a song from Sainikudu that has Mahesh Babu and Trisha seated on a bike, while incredible things happen to the clouds.

W ARRIORS

The young and motivated Celebrity Cricket Team of the Telugu film industry. Led by captain Victory Venkatesh, they are the reigning CCL champions.

X -MAN

He burst into the industry with no godfather or film lineage. Since then, Ravi Teja has remained impossible to define. His hysterical energy and uninhibited body language result in an acting style that is part-comic, part-action hero and always entertaining. His box-office successes Vikramarkudu and Kick , were remade successfully. Telugu’s most unpredictable and exciting actor, he is called Mass Maharaja .

Y AMA-FIXATION

The industry has a strange obsession with the messenger of death. Down the years, the gatha-wielding Yama has been a crowd-puller: NTR’s Yamagola was a smash-hit; Jr NTR’s career was cemented by Yamadonga ; Chiranjeevi’s Yamudiki Mogudu was another major Yama-success. Rather than a forbidding figure, the cine-Yama is usually fun-loving and jovial.

Z EE CINEMA

India’s first Hindi movie channel unwittingly ended up creating a revolution. Needing content for 24-hour entertainment, they began to dub Southern movies en masse. Telugu, with its blend of action and dance, was an obvious choice. Other channels soon followed suit. Thumb-rule to identify a dubbed Telugu film: the ‘Main hoon’ prefix (eg. Main Hoon Rakhwala ) or a ‘No.1’ suffix (for instance, Don No.1 , Khiladi No.1 ).

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