I ended my last article with a note saying - "With oodles of creativity, bundles of energy and an undying penchant for success, lets hope all these immensely talented school of directors take Telugu Cinema to a new dimension." If not for anything, at least on paper, the note sounds pompous, igniting a fire of optimism.

It was not my whim gushing out in the form of those fanciful words and nor was I ostentatiously displaying my expertise in my medium of expression. I was indeed vehemently expressing my hope to see Telugu Cinema graduate from the routine run-of-the-mill school to an institution of quality and novelty guided by the hot-blooded messiahs eager to set foot on the unconquered territories of creativity.

But who are those messiahs who would take over the reins and whip the horses of Telugu Cinema to race into an era of quality cinema? The directors? The heroes? The producers? Or the all powerful public on whose nod the stars shine and on whose decry even the ever-glowing stars fade into oblivion? Pray, who exactly are those messiahs?

Lets start by analyzing each one of the above classes -

Directors

Directors are those artisans who assemble various components of cinema to build a breathtaking beauty. It's solely the director's responsibility to just not gift-wrap his work in an attractive package but also ensure that the contents in the package are of topmost quality. But unfortunately most of the directors of Telugu film industry get branded to a particular mould of cinema like -

• Spicy songs, scantily clad mumbai heroine, dishum-dishums and a flashback - B. Gopal
• Socio fantasy - Kodi Ramakrishna
• Family entertainers with comedy and loads of melodrama - S.V. Krishna Reddy
• Double meaning dialogues, slapstick, vulgar comedy - EVV
• Sentiment, sentiment and only sentiment - Muthyala Subbaiah
• Remakes - Raviraja Pinisetty
• Melodrama with flowers, fruits - K Raghavendra Rao

Why does this happen? Are the directors not intelligent enough to stride away from this mould-trap? The answer is very simple. Many a time when a director fails trying to be different, he tends to repeat what he has mastered, allured by the success of his already tried-and-tested formulas. But what he fails to realize is that by doing so, he's just sinking deeper and deeper into this quicksand. Directors, measuring their movies on the scale of success, somehow completely ignore the scale of variety.

Heroes

Gone are those days when heroes were only interested in acting. Heroes these days do much more than emoting. Having realized that star power, which might help in garnering terrific openings but not in making a film universally successful, have started involving themselves in almost every department of movie making.

In spite of taking utmost care by roping in the most happening heroines, best music directors, powerful dialogue writers for their films even stalwarts like Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna, are not able to deliver continuous hits. The main problem with these legends is that they are caught in the image-web. In trying to satisfy their fans by including all types of 'masalas' they fail to realize that the final product is half cooked thereby choking the audience.

If stars like Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan are achieving huge successes from movie to movie, it's mainly because they have nurtured the factors behind the making of a successful cinema, well. In fact these superstars have taken utmost care not to create an image of any particular type for themselves. It was the sharp acumen of Venkatesh, which prompted him to experiment with a variety of roles from naïve Chanti to happy-go-lucky Venkateshwarlu (of Nuvvu Nakku Nachhav). Though Pawan started it wrong with Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi, he has henceforth been impeccably invincible delivering hit after hits with reverberating success and khushi.

Nagarjuna, though tries his hand at various themes encouraging new talent, needs to take enough care to select the right subjects to churn out hits. Mahesh is another actor who has been experimenting a lot with various themes. Rising stars like Tarun, Uday, Jr. NTR, by taking enough care to not get branded with a certain 'image' could also attempt to experiment with new themes.

Producers

All that matters to most of the producers is fame and financial success and as long as they achieve it nobody is complaining, as both those factors are essential for the producer to gain footage in the industry. But having established a mark, it is the duty of these established producers to encourage different and novel themes and not stick to the routine formulas. Dr. D. Ramanaidu, D. Suresh, Ramoji Rao, who are a class apart from other producers, belong to this class of producers always encouraging new talent and different themes, undeterred by failures.

Audience

No matter how powerful the actors/directors/producers are in their own might, their fate depends on the verdict of the audience. We often hear/read producers and directors complain that they don't experiment with new themes for the fear of non-acceptance by the audience.

The same public who have welcomed a pure comedy like 'Aha! na pellanta' have accepted a tearjerker like 'Matrudevobhava'. The same audiences who have hailed an action thriller like 'Police Story' that had no songs have also rewarded a family entertainer like 'Ninne Pelladatha'. So how exactly can the producers/directors complain about what the audience accept and what they don't.

The bottom line is that a movie made with passion, that can take the audience into its grip is bound to be appreciated both critically and commercially. A movie that can strike the right chord with the audience be it a comedy, an action thriller, or a sentiment saga, is sure to reap in huge profits apart from winning the hearts of the audience.

So who are those messiahs who will take Telugu cinema to a new dimension of creativity? It takes no intelligence to say that a director willing to experiment, a hero ready to portray any character without inhibitions, a producer with an eye for quality not just in terms of spending money but also in spending time to choose the right subjects are the essential ingredients for building a strong foundation for the better future of Telugu Cinema. Audiences these days are not willing to see whatever trash is being churned out in the name of cinema. But at the same time, they never fail to appreciate a good movie.

Here's wishing all the very best to our highly talented and determined directors, sharp and intelligent actors, inviting and encouraging producers of the Telugu film industry; to put in their best efforts and skills to leave an indelible impression of Telugu Cinema in the world. Shun the routine; show us what we've not seen.

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