Telangana flicks bid adieu to Red ideology

Hyderabad: Life might not have changed much in Telangana after the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh about a year ago, but films have sure undergone a sea change. Flicks revolving round Telangana and its people were known for their depiction of exploitation of the poor and the oppressed and had undercurrents of class struggle. But not anymore. Filmmakers are now banking on pleasant themes involving the rich culture and tradition of Telangana and are openly shunning ‘red’ films and the ones that depict fights against ‘feudal oppression’, apparently lured by the prospects of mainstream cinema.

Actor-filmmaker R Narayanamurthy, who has been hailed as one of the torchbearers of Telangana cinema with his blockbuster revolutionary films like ‘Erra Sainyam’, ‘Dandora, Cheemala Dandu’ and the like is now going for a complete image-makeover with his upcoming film ‘Pothuraju’. “It is a fact that films mirror society and the Leftist ideology has lost its relevance. Also, the struggle for Telangana statehood came to an end after the new State was born and the changing realities are bound to reflect onscreen,” says Telangana filmmaker Allani Sridhar, who himself made revolutionary film ‘Komaram Bheem’.

“It’s true that I am trying a new genre since my next film Pothuraju’ is a socio-fantasy. Legendary actor R Narayamurthy will be seen in a new avatar, which he hasn’t done before. Because even Narayamurthy wanted to reinvent his larger-than-life image, so we chose this Telangana-centric theme. Our film will be a tribute to the rich culture of Telangana like Bonalu and other festivals and our protagonist will fight for a social cause, but without a red flag,” adds Sridhar.

More than two decades ago, after stupendous success of ‘Erra Sainyam’ in 1994, a bunch of mainstream filmmakers jumped into the bandwagon of ultra-driven movies and their protagonists turned out to be Naxals after tormented by evil feudal lords. Along with superstar Krishna who did a hit film called ‘Encounter’, leading actress Vijayashanti tasted big success with ‘Osey Ravulamma’ and mainstream filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao dished out few films including ‘Orey Rikshaw’ and ‘Sammakka Sarakka’ to make money but unfortunately they fizzled out in the box office.

“It’s a misconception that Telangana cinema is revolutionary-centric since there are many filmmakers who explored varied themes,” says Telangana-born director Shankar who tasted success with ‘Jai Bolo Telangana’ by showcasing the heat of separate statehood movement in the united State, two years ago. He is now thinking of doing a multilingual mainstream film with iconic actor Kamal Haasan. “Firstly, I am a humanist and tried to reflect issues in society through my films. Be it ‘Encounter’ or ‘Jai Bolo Telangana’, those films reflected boiling issues at that point of time and I also made other genres too,” says Shankar, who feels that new State has brought lot of scope for new generation.

Civil rights activist Prof G Haragopal also admits that Telangana cinema would move away from its brand of revolutionary films. “This change is bound to happen since even Leftist ideology in real life has faded. Now, Maoists have realised that imperialism is bigger threat than feudalism and have moved to Chhattisgarh and Central Bihar to fight against the exploitation of mining by imperialists, so filmmakers are slowly shunning such films,” he says.

“New generation doesn't understand idealism, so films propagating idealistic values will not be patronised," he opines. “Unlike the youth of 70’s to 90‘s, the new generation is under the influence of neo-liberal market and are no more idealistic. To imbibe idealism, an individual should have a ‘streak of innocence’ in him but that is missing in our Gen Y and unfortunately even rural youth are in no mood to fight for their rights,” he laments.

Despite changing realities, producer-director Sanayadi Reddy is planning to make a Rs 50-crore film on 60-years of struggle for Telangana State. “It’s one of the most fiercely fought struggles in Indian history and the pain, anguish and sufferings of the last 60 years cannot be pushed under the carpet. I will take the film to the national level and bring to life many martyrs on screen by making it in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, with top stars of respective languages, to show the world how we suffered to get the new State,” he says.

By B V S Prakash