Winds blowing in favour of Telugu filmmakers?

The upcoming elections to the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce are surely turning out in favour of the Telugu filmmakers. With seasoned producer Katragadda Prasad who made films like ‘Ardhangi’ and ‘Peddinti Alludu’ and Venkateshwara Rao of Sarathi Studios unanimously won the top posts of president and vice-president respectively, which has come has a booster shot for T-town film fraternity.

“It is true that senior producers Katragadda Prasad and Venkateshwar Rao have been unanimously elected for the coveted posts, but we are waiting for more wins for Telugu filmmakers for the posts of other office-bearers and executive committee,” says a source from Chennai. Whereas, Kotarakarra and Murali Ramaswamy are chosen for General Secretary posts, the source adds.

Among the 2300-odd members of the apex body, which include producers, studio owners, exhibitors and distributors of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam film industries, 700-odd members belong to the Telugu film industry. “Recently, Telugu filmmakers managed to negotiate a deal for Telugu producer L Subramanyam of Laxmi Ganapathi Films and got him Rs 2.5 crore for the losses he incurred on ‘Kochadaiyan’ (Vikrama Simha in Telugu). If more Telugu producers and others get elected in the upcoming elections, then it would be easy to resolve their inter-industry disputes amicably,” he adds.

The much-awaited elections will be held on July 29 in Chennai and it is bound to be a good contest between filmmakers of various South Indian languages. “Telugus are contesting for more than 20-odd posts in studios, producer, exhibitor and distributor sectors. The elections are held in a cordial atmosphere as all of us belong to the same industry,” the source concludes.