Tollywood FILMI SCENE, 2O13? : TOI

WHAT'S THE FILMI SCENE, 2O13?

From technical innovations and experiments to stars increasingly exploring new markets, the year ahead seems to hold a lot of promise. Here's a dekko of Tollywood 2013

Karthik Pasupulate

   In the year gone by, Tollywood rocked! A once hit-starved industry, virtually bounced back in 2012, and seems like the trend is likely to continue in 2013, what with a lot of exciting projects lined up for the new year.

TECHTASTIC YEAR AHEAD


In 2012, Rajamouli's Eega, the movie that turned an animated fly into a star, set the benchmark in Indian cinema for CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), but looks like there are going to be a few more tech surprises lined up this year. Topping the list is producer-turned-director, Anand Ranga's Poga, an experimental horror film, that is looking to break new grounds. It will be the first-ever 4D feature film in India. There is the Anushka-starrer, Rudrama Devi, billed as India's first ever stereoscopic 3D film and producer Anil Sunkara's maiden directorial venture, Action, which is going to push the limits in the comedy genre. It is billed as the first-ever comedy, shot entirely in 3D!

BOLLYWOOD LINEUP


The trend of Tollywood stars testing waters in other Southern film industries, Bollywood and even Hollywood must have kicked off a couple of years ago, but 2013 will witness a whole lot of T-Town stars branching out to explore new markets.
   Ram Charan is all set to make a grand Bollywood splash this year with the remake of Zanjeer, while Taapsee Pannu is making a B-town entry with David Dhawan's remake of Chashme Buddoor, which also stars Siddharth. Then there is Ileana, who is cast opposite Shahid Kapoor in Phata Poster Nikla Hero, also scheduled for release next year. And Priya Anand has two Bollywood releases — Fukrey and Rangrez, while Kajal Aggarwal is acting in Akshay Kumar's Special Chabbis. Now, that's quite a long Tollywood star lineup in Bollywood for 2013!

THE NEW BAADSHAH


It's going to be a battle royale for T-Town's Alisters this year. In the recent past, Mahesh Babu and Pawan Kalyan have emerged as the front runners for the top slot in Tollywood, delivering two of the biggest hits of Telugu cinema — Mahesh's Dookudu (2011) and Pawan's Gabbar Singh (2012). While Mahesh seems to have the upper hand at the moment with two big releases lined up — Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu and an untitled film with director Sukumar, Pawan Kalyan is going to start working for director Trivikram Srinivas's film pretty soon.
   Amongst the younger lot, Ram Charan and NTR Jr it's a neck-to-neck race. Charan has Nayak and Yevadu scheduled for release this year and NTR Jr is banking on director Srinu Vaitla's Baadshah to bring him back into the reckoning for the top slot.

HOLLYWOOD OR KOLLYWOOD — NO BAR!


Crossing borders and breaking regional cinema barriers seems to on top of the agenda of mana stars. Siddharth will be working on his second Hollywood production, First Class Man, based on the life of mathematical prodigy, Sreenivasan Ramanujam. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, the film will have Sid playing Ramanujam. Meanwhile, the actor is also working on a couple of Tamil films — NH4 and Kaaviya Thalaiavan — that will hit the marquee this year. Rana Daggubati is all set to test waters overseas with his international project, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, an independent film to be directed by Aditya Bhattacharya. This year, the actor will also be making his foray into Tamil cinema with an untitled film to be directed by Selva Raghavan.

2013'S QUEEN BEE


Coming to the actresses, with the likes of Ileana, Kajal and even Taapsee focussing on Bollywood, the coast seems to be clear for Samantha. In 2012, the actress was the talk of T-town for all the right and wrong reasons. Her mysterious illness overshadowed even the success of Eega, sparking off a spate of speculations ranging from a serious skin ailment to a nose job gone wrong. However, Samantha still emerged out of it all as a topper, bagging rave reviews for her performance in the recently-released Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu, keeping her flop-less record intact. She has a slew of huge releases lined up — SVSC with Mahesh Babu, Autonagar Surya with Naga Chaitanya and Jabardasth with Siddharth. If her amazing run of luck continues, she will become the undisputed queen of Telugu cinema!

THE YEAR OF STARLESS FILMS

Thanks to the success of films like Ee Rojullo, Bus Stop, Oka Romantic Crime Katha, a new trend has dawned in Tollydom. Films with novel content and no stars, made on a budget of around 1 to 2 crore have worked at the BO. The best part is that a host of smart young filmmakers are coming up with multiple genres. This is something unheard of in Tollywood. We have Bollywood directors Raj and DK's D for Dopidi, Sumanth and Varun Sandesh's Twist, and Navdeep's Bangaru Kodipetta, all of which happen to be "con-comedies." Then we have Bhumika Chawla and Jagapathi Babu's April Fool, billed as an "absurdcomedy-cum-socio-fantasy." That's not all, a host of short filmmakers led by National Award-winner Pradeep Advaitam, are all set to break into mainstream Tollywood this year. Buzz is that at least 50 small films are under production in Tollywood at the moment! Looks like small cinema is going to take 2013 by storm this year!
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A still from
SVSC

A still from
Nayak

A still from
Autonagar Surya

A still from Rudrama Devi

A still from Baadshah

A still from
Poga