2014, a mixed bag in Tollywood industry

Hyderabad:  For Tollywood, it has been a mixed bag. Several films flopped and only a few managed to stay above the water. But there were bright sparks. Here’s the round-up of all that happened, in year that was indeed eventful.

The best Bollywood entries:

The year 2014 saw  several Bollywood actresses including Kriti Sanon, Pooja Hegde and Sunny Leone making their Telugu debut. But Kriti Sanon’s debut was easily the best as she was paired opposite Mahesh Babu in 1. Meanwhile, Pooja Hegde starred opposite Naga Chaitanya in Oka Laila Kosam and her entry was received well. Also making the headlines was Sunny Leone, who instantly charmed the industry here. Others on the debut list are Rashi Khanna, Sana Maqbul, Mishti Chakraborthy, Vani Kapoor and Christina Akheeva.

The top actors:

Naga Shaurya in Oohala Gusagusalade
Bellamkonda Srinivas in Alludu Seenu
Sampoornesh Babu for Hrudaya Kaleyam
Sai Dharam Tej in Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham
Varun Tej in Mukunda

The top actresses:

Kriti Sanon in 1-Nenokkadine
Adah Sharma in Heart Attack
Vani Kapoor in Aha Kalyanam
Samyukta in Ulavacharu Biryani
Pooja Hegde in Oka Laila Kosam

Debutant actors:

The year saw a new generation of actors like Naga Shaurya, Sai Dharma Tej, Varun Tej and Bellamkonda Srininvas making their debut. Except Naga Shaurya, all the other three are star kids. Meanwhile, Sampoornesh Babu was the big find of the year with his debut film Hrudaya Kaleyam. The trailers of the film created a huge buzz on the Internet before the film’s release and its success proved that a common person could also have an impact. Among the newbies, Naga Shaurya was the most promising debutant. He made his debut with Oohalu Gusagusalade though Chandamama Kathalu released first. He has acted in four films till now and has received critical acclaim for all. Sai Dharma Tej and Varun Tej, meanwhile, are both from Chiranjeevi’s family and people had high expectations from them. Though Sai’s first film Rey is yet to be released, he impressed everyone in his second film Pilla Nuvvuleni Jeevitham. Varun Tej’s debut film Mukuda released recently and has got good feedback.

Debut directors:

Run Raja Run’s Sujeeth
Power’s K. S. Ravindra
Lovers’ Harinath
Oohalu Gusagusalade’s Srinivas Avasarala
Karthikeya’s Chandu Mondeti
 

Most promising directors:

Some of the new crop of directors came up with innovative ideas this year. Sujeeth was successful with Run Raja Run while Chandu Mondeti was lauded for his supernatural thriller Karthikeya. In 2014, writer K.S. Ravindra turned to direction and made a successful debut with the film Power starring Ravi Teja.

Another debutant, Raj Kiran, tasted success with the horror comedy Geethanjali. Actor Srinivas Avasarala also turned director with his debut film Oohalu Gusagusalade which was successful. There were a few others like Harinath with Lovers and Prashanth Mandava with Prathinidhi who made their directorial debuts. Trikoti, who had worked with Rajamouli for many years, made his debut as a director with Dikkulu Choodaku Ramayya.

Top films:

Drushyam
Race Gurram
Legend
Manam
Yevadu
Power
Loukyam
Geethanjali
Karthikeya
Run Raja Run
Oohalu Gusagusalade

The big films that failed:

Mahesh Babu’s 1 was easily the most expensive Telugu cinema till date. But the Rs 70-crore psychological thriller was a massive disappointment at the box-office. His other big film Aagadu too was a washout. The other disappointment was NTR Jr’s Rabhasa.

Top disasters:
Rabhasa
Aagadu
Lingaa

Allu Arjun is highest scorer:

Allu Arjun’s Race Gurram was the highest grosser of the year and the actor proved his box-office standing once again, cementing his place in the top five actors’ list. Next was Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Legend. He gave strong competition to younger actors with his powerful dialogues and action. Also, this is the actor’s first big hit after a gap of four years.  His last successful film was Simha, in 2010.

Bifurcation a blessing:

The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, actually is a blessing for Telugu cinema. Recently, Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced that he was going to build a film city, complete with infrastructure. He has allocated nearly 2,000 acres of land near Rachakonda and pre-construction work is already underway. He is planning to make it one of the best in the world even though Hyderabad  already has the Ramoji Film City. Many filmmakers are also looking at  expanding filmmaking facilities to places such as Warangal and Karimnagar. About neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, it is reported that EROS, an entertainment production house, is investing hundreds of crores to build an entertainment city near Vizag. Meanwhile, Tada, in the Nellore district of AP is also developing another film city. And Vijayawada is going to be the new capital, so several multiplexes are already starting to come up in the city. Overall, following the bifurcation, the Telugu film industry is widening its presence.

Experiments:

The year also saw a few experimental films, which interestingly, did very well. Manam, which starred three generations of actors from ANR’s family, was a first in South cinema. This was also the final film of legendary actor, the late Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who was seen in the film with his son Nagarjuna and grandson Naga Chaitanya. Another experimental film that clicked was Drushyam, starring Venkatesh.

But the surprise of the year was the tiny project Karthikeya, which was made with a budget of less than Rs 5 crore. It turned out to be a major hit at the Telugu BO.

No impact of dubbed films:

This year, the impact of dubbed films were felt slightly. Though many dubbed films were released, only two of them ended strictly okay Suriya’s Sikander and the Rajinikanth-starrer Lingaa. Both films are expected to generate high revenues. Yet the year’s  biggest disappointment was Rajinikanth’s Vikram Simha. It was washed out in the first week itself. The animated film, directed by the Superstar’s daughter Soundarya, was a huge dud at the box-office. Deepika Padukone played the female lead in this animated flick.

The ones we lost:

This was also a tragic year for the Telugu Film fraternity and its fans. Never before, have we lost in just one year, some of the industry’s top legends and promising talent. Young actor Uday Kiran’s suicide was a talking point in the industry. Veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, succumbed to cancer, yesteryear actress Anjali Devi, director Bapu, character artiste Telangana Sakunthala, music director Chakri and most recently, there was director K. Balachander’s tragic passing.

Blind items: Year’s hottest whispers

• This top actor is now in a live-in relationship with a small-time actress. He is coming up with a big film in 2015, and has announced the same actress as the female lead. His decision has stunned the industry and soon, rumours started to circulate. But the actor’s adamant and wants no change.
• An upcoming, media-friendly actor is a famous Casanova. If any new actress from Mumbai is making her debut in the South, the actor instantly texts her and takes her out for coffees and dinners. Recently, he was spotted dropping a foreign actress to the airport. Also, he was given a warning by a city hotel’s management after he started visiting an actress a little too often. He, however, told the hotel that he was meeting her for story narration sessions. When the hotel complained to the film’s producer, the latter moved the actress to another hotel. The actor’s film is ready to release and the female lead is a debutant. Despite the leading lady’s mom keeping an eye on her daughter, this slippery star still managed to take his co-star out for lunch.