Not taking any risk

Nagarjuna is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that his son Akhil’s debut film, Akhil, is a success. After his elder son Naga Chaitanya’s debut under Vasu Varma was a huge flop, Nagarjuna had blamed himself for not being more involved in the project. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, he and his wife Amala would routinely go for the shootings of Akhil’s film. They successfully created a hype around the film and even roped in Salman Khan to launch it.

But just ahead of the film’s Dasara release, he apparently realised that the film had some big drawbacks and asked for some major reworks. The film is now slated for a Diwali release.

“We want everything to be perfect and are not in a hurry to release the film,” Nagarjuna had said recently.

According to a source, the actor was not happy with a scene where Akhil fights a tiger. “It looked like a cartoon animation and Nagarjuna asked for the scene to be reworked the scene.”

Not only Akhil, many actors are under pressure these days, especially newcomers from big film families with huge fan bases. “Yes, definitely we are under pressure, especially when we work with star kids. At the same time we want to come out with a good film. These days every actor is under pressure because of the wider market for Telugu cinema and they want to live up to the expectations,” says director Krish, who directed Nagababu’s son  Varun Tej in Kanche.

With Telugu cinema expanding to other markets like Tamil and Malayalam, and with overseas business being a big money spinner, every actor is under pressure to beat his previous film.

“Yes, most of the top stars are under pressure, but they can’t be written off. For example stars like Pawan Kalyan, Mahesh Babu and a few others have gone through periods when they didn’t taste success for many years. But they are superstars and many producers and directors still wish to work with them, because of their stamina,” says director B. Jaya.

She adds that Telugu stars enjoy huge fan followings and they only need a single hit.

According to a source, the budget of Akhil’s debut film is also a talking point in the industry. It has reportedly crossed '45 crore and the expectations from the film are high.

Meanwhile, the producer is also under pressure with the film’s postponement as the fans are not happy. “Yes, there is pressure from fans, but we want to give the best output,” says producer Sudhakar Reddy. As a film gets postponed, the producer has to bear the brunt as he has to pay interest for the money he has borrowed for the film.