K'wood eyes the Telugu pie

K'wood eyes the Telugu pie

Whether it's for actors or filmmakers, the AP market seems to be turning into a lucrative one

Sunayana Suresh

In recent months, a noticeable trend is how Tamil filmmakers and stars have marked Andhra Pradesh as an important market for their ventures. The Tollywood audience has always enjoyed Tamil films, so it was but natural that major events were held in Hyderabad, like in Chennai.
This year has seen many Kollywood makers having their first big announcement in Hyderabad, as opposed to Chennai. The latest one was director Gautham Menon's Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu (the Telugu version of Neethaane En Ponvasantham). An industry insider tells us, "The Telugu market holds great importance. Take Gautham for instance... his Ye Maaya Chesave was as big a hit as Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. The Telugu market is extremely lucrative, which means they have to play sensibly and big to rake in the money
there." A r This holds well with the other makers too. KV Anand, whose Rangam (dubbed version of Ko) did extremely well at the Telugu box office, chose to have his first formal press meet in Hyderabad for Maatraan. Suriya and Kajal Aggarwal, the lead actors of the film, both hold big commercial value with the Telugu audience too. Karthi's next release Saguni too had a big press briefing in Hyderabad recently as he also has developed a market for himself there. In fact, insiders in the industry claim that Suriya and his brother Karthi take the distribution rights of Andhra Pradesh, which totals to an astronomical sum, as part of their remuneration.
An industry source states that while money may be the major reason for these stars and filmmakers to be drawn to Hyderabad, there's a convenience factor at play too. "Most of these films are shot at the Ramoji Film City. The makers feel that it works out practically if they hold a press conference at the end of schedule rather than make another trip there," says the source.
Be it practicality or profits, but 2012 has ensured that filmmakers in Kollywood have taken to the Andhra market in a bigger and more aggressive fashion.

TOLLYWOOD EYES KOLLYWOOD TOO!

Filmmakers from Andhra Pradesh too have been equally aggressive with promoting their latest outings in Tamil Nadu. SS Rajamouli, whose Maaveeran (dubbed release of Magadheera) drew great crowds, has been vehemently promoting his next bilingual release Naan Ee, which is slated to hit the screens this month end. And Tollywood actors too are keen on a K-Town debut.

A still from Ko