Tollywood tamasha 2011 TOI

Tollywood tamasha 2011

This was an eventful year of hits, misses and unexpected surprises for the Telugu Film industry. Hyderabad Times gives you a recap

Suresh Kavirayani

It's that time again, when we look back at the year that was, and take stock of the good, the bad and the ugly. And in 2011, Tollywood lived to see a little bit of everything.
HITS AND MISSES
Following the trend of the disastrous 2010, this year too started with big disappointments like Balakrishna's "Parama Veera Chakra" and Siddharth's "Anaganaga O Dheerudu". Both Sankranti releases, they fell short of expectations and bombed at the BO.
The first breather for a flop-ridden Tollywood came in the form of Ravi Teja's "Mirapakai" which tasted reasonable success. The surprise of the season though was "Ala Modalaindi", the January release which marked Nandindi Reddy's debut as director. The film also gave Nithya Menon a dream launch in the industry, while Nani walked away with the tag of the most "bankable actor".
SMALL WONDERS
Spurred by the success of "Ala Modalaindi", Tollywood saw a spurt in the number of small films that hit the marquee. "Aha Na Pellanta"," Prema Kavali", "Seema Tapakai", "Jai Bolo Telangana", "Pilla Zamindar" and "Nuvvila" are just a few examples in a long string of films that were made on shoe-string budgets, and yet went on to do well at the box-office.
TYPICALLY TOLLYWOOD
What's Tollywood if not for masala films and mass superstars? Formula films that celebrate the hero continued to rake in the moolah with Ram's "Kandireega" and Prabhas' "Mr Perfect" doing more than just decent business. But in the end, it was Mahesh Babu who redeemed the fate of a sluggish season with his all time industry hit "Dookudu". Mahesh tasted success almost after five years and he reclaimed his position as the leading superstar.
The big actors also kept raising the bar when it came to power packed performances with critically acclaimed films like, "Gaganam", "Virodhi", "Srirama Rajyam" and
"Rajanna". WHEN STARS FAILED TO SHINE
The year was also a big disappointment for some of our big stars. Nandamuri Balakrishna's "Parama Veera Chakra" was a dampener, but he salvaged some pride towards the end of the year with his critically acclaimed "Sri Rama Rajyam".
NTR Jr may have found marital bliss this year, but he has nothing to boast off at the box office. His two big budget films "Shakti" and "Oosaravelli" bombed. Allu Arjun's much-hyped film "Badrinath" too failed to impress. Director K Raghavendra Rao's son Prakash's foray into commercial films with his "Anaganaga O Dheerudu" starring Siddharth fell short of expectations. The film helped only Manchu Lakshmi, as her performance was appreciated. Sid's "Oh My Friend" too did not do well at the box-office.
While the year started out well for young actor Naga Chaitanya with his breezy hit "100% Love", his other two films "Dhada" and "Bezawada" failed miserably.
Rana's dud "Nenu Naa Rakshasi" earned him some more brickbats for his wooden expressions and lack of acting skills; but his Bollywood outing made up for the thanda response at home. If there's one star who had an unfair 2011, it is Pawan Kalyan. Both his films "Teen Maar" and "Panjaa" disappointed fans and critics alike.
When you talk about duds, Ram Gopal Varma cannot be far behind. The filmmaker who is always in news for his controversies, come out with two films as director "KSD Appalaraju" and "Dongala Mutha", both of which were washouts at the box-office. While "Bezawada" which he produced, created a buzz thanks to his publicity gimmicks, it had no impact on the box-office.
DUBBED DOMINATION
While small budget flicks —some wonderful, others forgettable — continued to be churned out by the dozen, another phenomenon that was unique to 2011 was the dubbed film craze. In a never-seen-before trend, this year saw the release of nearly 120 dubbed films. Quite a feat, considering the number of original Telugu films released this year is just 118! Of the lot though, only a few films like "Rangam", "Naa Peru Shiva" and "Kanchana" tasted commercial success.
An interesting off shoot of this inter-state talent exchange was the fact that our actors got to broaden their horizons. Telugu actors Nani, Sharwanand and Allari Naresh made her debut in Tamil, while actors like Allu Arjun widened their market in Malayalam.
2011 HIT FILMS
Dookudu (All time hit) Kandireega (Blockbuster) Mr Perfect (Blockbuster) Ala Modalaindi (Super hit) Mirapakai (Super Hit) 100% Love (Super Hit) Aha Naa Pellanta (Hit) Seema Tapakai (Hit) Pilla Zamindar (Hit) Nuvvila (Average) Jai Bolo Telangana (Average) Critically acclaimed films — Gaganam, Virodhi, Sri Rama Rajyam, Rajanna BIG DISAPPOINTMENTS Parama Veera Chakra (Balakrishna) Shakti and Oosaravelli (NTR Jr) Badrinath (Allu Arjun) Teen Maar and Panjaa (Pawan Kalyan) Anaganaga O Dheerudu and Oh My Friend (Siddharth) Nenu Naa Raakshasi (Rana) Dhada (Naga Chaitanya) KSD Appala Raju and Dongala Mutha (Ram Gopal Varma as director)

Rana

Allu Arjun

A still from 'Naa Peru Shiva'

ALL ABOUT LOVE

If there's one genre that emerged strongest and defined Tollywood in 2011, then it's the fresh, breezy rom-coms. Hyderabad Times looks back at the trend.

Karthik Pasupulate

The year 2011 brought love and laughter back on the silverscreen. Films like "Ala Modalaindi", "100% Love", "LBW", "It's My Love Story", "Oh My Friend", "Kudirithe Cup Coffee", "Teenmaar" — all jumped the rom-com bandwagon. Even mass entertainers like "Kandireega" and "Mr Perfect" had generous helpings of romance and comedy. Some clicked, some didn't. But the audiences didn't complain. They awwed and oohed at the happily-ever afters and walked out of theaters with a smile on their faces.
Director Madhura Sreedhar says "Ala Modalaindi" set the ball rolling. "I think it all started with "Ala Mdalaindi" which was easily the best of the lot. Of late, the established actors have been doing only mass entertainers, so well-made romcoms came in as a breath of fresh air for the audiences and they lapped it up," says Sreedhar, who directed "It's My Love Story."
Putting the trend in perspective is director Nandini Reddy who says, "Telugu cinema had moved away from romance in the recent past, but I am glad that rom-coms had a bit of a revival this year. Also, they are simpler to make budget wise as they rely just on good writing and acting unlike action films and thrillers that need much technical expertise. That explains why we see many newcomers trying their hand at such films first."
While "100% Love" broke new ground exploring how sparks fly between a studious boy and a girl who are competing with each other, "Oh My Friend" explored the relationship between a boy and girl who are very close, but prefer to keep their relationship purely platonic. "It's My Love Story" on the other hand explored the still touchy subject of live-in relationships.
The romance has gotten a lot more contemporary as well. "Romance is fleeting and relationships have gotten a lot more disposable today, which is why we'll find a cut in melodramatic content. There are not many films centered on heartache and angst. Romance is now a lot more chic and hassle free; so even the color palettes have gotten a lot brighter. The movies are reflecting this trend, which is why they are striking a chord with the audience," says Sreedhar, adding," "We are going to see the trend continuing in 2012 as well."
Nadini Reddy however, isn't so sure about the trend continuing in the next year, but says, "I would love to see more of romance honestly. It's a genre that has universal appeal. I just wish they could get more rooted and deeper."
karthik.pasupulate@timesgroup.com

T-town's hall of shame

Apart from the blockbusters that set the Box Office on fire, brand Tollywood took a beating, thanks to a string of controversies...

Abhishek Raje

The year 2011 was no better than a controversy-and-arrest ridden 2010 for Tollywood, as it made headlines this year for raids by IT sleuths, its connection in drug rackets, land mafia and faction groups, brawls and drunken driving cases. We take a quick look at the controversies that dented Tollywood's image in the year gone by.
UNDER THE IT SLEUTHS' SCANNER
Tollywood was under the Income Tax Department's scanner as their officials raided residences and offices of many Tollywood personalities earlier this year. March 23 saw IT sleuths carry out surprise raids on residences and offices of Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja, Anushka Shetty and producer D. Shiva Prasad Reddy. Reddy's production house, Kamakshi Movies, is known to make films only with Nagarjuna and his family, hinting that Nag's camp was under the IT Department's scanner.
In November, IT officials raided the residence and office of Anil Sunkara — producer of "Dookudu". "Dookudu" star Mahesh Babu too came under the IT Department's radar as his residence was raided earlier this month following the runaway success of the film.
DRUG NEXUS
Time and again, the ugly nexus between T-town and drugs surfaced. The cocaine connection that came to light by last year's arrest of actor Ravi Teja's brothers Raghubabu and Bharat, was further exposed when filmmaker Jeevitha Rajasekhar's brother and producer, Murali Srinivas, was nabbed with 303 grams of cocaine with three others — two friends Chander alias Nash Paritala Rambabu, and Nigerian peddler Daniel Fernandez. The T-Cocaine connection resurfaced in April when a Sudanese national was arrested in possession of 10 gms of cocaine in Filmnagar.
But the controversy of the year was when actor Varun Sandesh found his name dragged in a drug racket controversy after cops nabbed Dr DV Siddharth and a Nigerian national James Egems in possession of the contraband in July. Apart from the actor, producer Uppalpati Ravi and actor Avinash's name also figured in the Dr Srikanth and James' 'on-record' confessions. The three T-town personalities were interrogated by cops. Varun pleaded innocence and said he was not in the habit of having drugs. But he confirmed that he knew Siddharth.
GAMBLING WITH DANGER
Ravi Teja's father Bhoopathi Rajagopala Raju was arrested on gambling charges for playing cards at the Golden Club in Ranigunj in May 2011. The actor's dad is 70 years old and was among 46 others who were nabbed for gambling by betting money on cards games.
BRAWL BROUHAHA
Navdeep's name was dragged into an eve-teasing brawl that involved his friends and a group of engineering students in October. Several versions of the brawl spilled out and the actor denied the allegations of thrashing an engineering student. He claimed that he was being targeted and the matter was being blown out of proportion since he was a celebrity.
LAND MAFIA LINKS
The special Crime Investigation Department team that is investigating factionist Suri's murder case, apprehended Tollywood producer C Kalyan in Chennai earlier this year. Two cases of cheating were booked against Kalyan by Central Crime Station based on complaints made by Mohammed Ashraf of Shalimar Videos and Mohammed Ashfaq of Universal Home Entertainment. The cases were transferred to CID, which was entrusted with the responsibility of investigating the murder case of factionist Maddelacheruvu Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri. It is alleged that C Kalyan did business with warlord Maddelacheruvu Suri and Bhanu, the alleged killers of Suri. A few days before Kalyan's arrest, producer Singanamala Ramesh Babu was arrested in connection with three cheating cases. His involvement with Bhanu Kiran, prime accused in the Suri murder case, is under the scanner too.
DRUNKEN DRIVING
Actor Nikhil made headlines after being booked for drunken driving. His car was seized and the actor was presented in front of the magistrate where he was fined
2,600. His four-wheeler driving licence was also suspended for a year. But kudos to the actor who decided to become the Hyderabad Traffic Police's ambassador and support their special drive against drunken driving. He participated in antialcohol and anti-drunken driving programmes that have been held in the city.
abhishek.raje@timesgroup.com

Anushka Shetty

Nagarjuna

Varun Sandesh