Probably from the late 1980s or the early of 1990s, Telugu cinema has witnessed a changed with commercial factor playing a crucial role. High octane fight sequences, comedy track, colorful songs and the mid 2000s brought a trend of item numbers, remained as pillars of a film’s success for a decade or so.
But again, as audience always look for something new, over the last couple of years, there is a change too and it happened inevitably. Audiences have started accepting films that are serious in nature despite the same old plot. But that’s not the case of a filmmaker who would like to make a film in every possible genre and at the same time, the success is what takes him/her forward. Nonetheless we have very few directors been experimenting and incorporating a social message with commercial elements.
Directors Koratala Siva set this trend with ‘Srimanthudu,’ ‘Janatha Garage’ and ‘Bharat Ane Nenu.’ Though the first two films have a regular story, ‘Bharat Ane Nenu’ is one of the boldest attempts in the recent times and it is sort of an awareness film for the audience. ‘Rangasthalam’ is another example of a serious drama and it’s been a while Telugu audience have witnessed a proper village drama with rustic approach. The characters in the film will remain for a long-long time.
The latest edition is ‘Aravindha Sametha Veera Raghava.’ A combination of Jr NTR and Trivikram is anticipated with loads of entertainment, punch dialogues, songs in lavish abroad locations and blah.. blah… blah. Surprising everyone, this film stuck to its core point and it clearly lacked the comedy track (that’s critics’ words). As the audiences are the ultimate deciders, ‘Aravindha Sametha’ is on its way to become a biggest hit in NTR’s career.
All we can says is trend changes and so does the time!