HIGH FIVE FOR SEVENTY FIVE

Published in Hyderabad Times, Times of India, Sept 2008

Barring the post-World War II period when the British levied a ban on movies, nothing could shake up the 75-year-old Telugu movie industry. A look at the giant called Tollywood

For mathematicians, it could be just be a statistic. 240 movies released every year;
For the producers, it is just another big punch in their current account. Rs 2.3 billion in the last one year;
For the bees ka challees wallahs, it is just an awesome figure. 700 million ticket sales annually;
But for the Telugu moviegoer, a matinee show is not just a three hour pastime. It is part of his life, an element of his psyche, a component of his lifestyle and a piece of his very being. 75 years since the first Telugu movie hit the screens, the movie mania continues to hold the Telugus mesmerized. How else can you explain the flourish of the 2,700 theatres across the State? Magic of the movies? Call it mania. An obsession. A passion. Or simply Telugu cinema.
While the quality of lyrics has plummeted, the number of young maverick directors has shot up. If the sons of soils have got a raw deal and made inroads for the Bollywood imports, the advent of star sons has compensated for the trend. If Digital Intermediaries, animation, CG and SFX has notched up Tollywood’s worth, remakes, copies and inspirations pull it down by a few steps. But on the whole, the 75 years of Telugu cinema can be summed up as phenomenal. Barring the post-World War II period when the British levied a ban on movies, nothing could shake up the industry.
Among the biggest milestones of the industry would definitely be the shifting of base from Chennai to Hyderabad and starting off at ground zero to be able to build the most exotic Film City in the world.
Tollywood has always been a path breaker, each decade at a time. The first decade marked the theatre artistes facing the camera; the second decade was about mythologicals. The third was about socially-relevant themes about freedom, social conscience etc. The fourth was the decade of epics and devotionals. The fifth was love stories – tragedies, classics et all. The fifth was family dramas. The sixth was sentiment and love. The seventh was musicals, romance, action and violence.
Each decade gave birth to a new set of filmmakers that took the industry to a new level. If K Vishwanath put up Indian music on a pedestal with his ‘S’ series, Ramgopal Varma brought in the Hollywood action and revenge dramas amidst the gaana bajana. If lyricist Srisri motivated the youngsters to take up the cudgels of the society with his motivational songs, Sirivennela cocktailed chaste Telugu with colloquial Telugu to bring forth fresh lyrics. In terms of sheer technical brilliance, the cinematographer took Telugu cinema to new heights, be it with his camera angles or Digital Intermediaries. Interestingly, the stars of the new age have also done their bit for the society. If not directly, but by gently guiding their fan force into social service.
Like any industry, there will be ups and downs, super hits and duber flops. Awesome flicks and bakwaas movies. Tollywood is no exception. But the promise that there are new paths being stepped on, fresher ideas being incorporated and path breaking trends invented. That spirit is enough to celebrate 75 years of Telugu cinema. Salaam Tollywoood!

While there are innumerable biggest, highest, firsts in the industry, any Telugu movie fan would agree the following are the Big Ten of the industry.
1. The Classiest movie of all time: Shankarabharanam (1979)
2. “God’ of the matinee: NT Rama Rao
3. Ultimate Lover of the matinee: Akkineni Nageshwar Rao
4. Starriest Star: Chiranjeevi
5. Biggest grosser ever: Pokiri (2006)
6. Funniest movie ever: Mayabazar (1957)
7. Tollywood’s best export to Mumbai: Sridevi
8. Biggest embarrassment: Remakes, remakes and remakes
9. Most creative gift to Mumbai: Ramgopal Varma
10. Biggest asset: Giving a break to everyone who is talented