Stars of Happy Days, Uyyala Jampala struggling hard?
No doubt, Varun Sandesh and Raj Tarun have a lean trot and are going through some tough times after a slew of flops. They are trying to make a comeback of sorts to regain their lost glory. "Varun Sandesh proved his acting mettle in films like ‘Happy Days’, “Kotha Bangaru Lokam’ and ‘Ye Maiyindi Eevela’, while his colleague Raj Tarun rose to fame with hits like ‘Uyyalla Jampala’, ‘Kumar 21F’ and ‘Eedo Rakam Adho Rakam’ and both were among hits and also hailed as bankable stars," says a producer who adds, “These actors were bankable heroes a decade ago and had their share of good hits and popularity. Varun Sandesh film ‘Happy Days’ collected over Rs 18 crores, similarly ‘Uyyala Jampala’ garnered more than Rs 11 crores and both fetched huge money to producers and distributors,” he adds.
He claims both the actors were sought after for thematic films made within a stipulated budget. “They could carry movies with a budget of Rs 5 crores plus and help the industry to thrive on content driven movies and it was win win situation for both actors and filmmakers,” he points out.
After playing lover boy roles and winning audience appreciation, they began to explore action roles and it worked against them. “Every hero would love to do action films and try to reach out to masses and not find fault with Varun or Raj Tarun since they also tried to expand their fan base and lost their core base,' he points out, However, he feels that these actors can bounce back with they get right kind of script. “They have to find novel scripts which relegates their names in the background and puts forward their character to the audience.
For instance, Vijay Sethupathi in ‘Maharaja’. We could find a struggling father who is devastated and trying hard to trace the culptrits, who raped his daughter, than a star who rocked in films like ‘Vikram Vedha’ and ‘Sethupathi’. He overlooked his star image and turned a character and it connected well with the masses. Varun and Raj Tarun should also follow suit, rather than chasing elusive star image,” he concludes.