Veteran directors on a comeback trail

Undoubtedly, the year 2017 marks the return of veteran directors who ruled the roost in 80’s and 90’s with a string of blockbusters and carved a niche for themselves. From Vamsi to B Gopal and S V Krishna Reddy to Jayanth Paranjape are making a comeback of sorts to connect with new generation viewers.

These dream merchants had distinct mark of their own and dabbled with varied genres and were hailed as star filmmakers but gradually, these dream merchants lost their way and were forced to take a break.

“Director Vamsi was a hit-machine with hits like `Sitara’ and `April Okati Viddudhala, in 80’s and 90’s and left his mark as a filmmaker with novel plots packed with great music and comedy, but was forced to take break after a few flops.

Nevertheless, his comeback film `Fashion Designer’ was high on visuals and less on content and truly a disappointing effort,” says producer N Padma.

Undettered, action director B Gopal and romantic filmmaker Jayanth C Paranjape are also returning to prove that they still have in them with `Aaradugulla Bullet’ and `Jayadev’ respectively.

“Director B Gopal was a sought-after-director in his hey days as he has gave biggest blockbusters to Chiranjeevi(`Indra’), Balakrishna(`Samarasimha Reddy’ and (`Narasimhanaidu’), Venkatesh (`Bobbiili Raja’) to be hailed as a filmmaker with a Midas touch but his career nose-dived after disastrous film `Palnati Brahmanaidu’,” says distributor Ramakrishna, who feels that a hit from Gopal was just round the corner. In contrast to it, Jayanth was more of classy director and master in romantic sagas.

“His films `Preminchukundam Raa’ and `Premante Iddare’ were a celebration of romance laced with lilting music, while his light-hearted entertainer ‘Bavagaru Bagunnara’ with Chiru showcased his versatality. Now he is returning with a cop story `Jayadev’ and surely we will not miss his distinct touch,” says director Nageswar Reddy.

Even S V Krishna Reddy who is known for comic-capers like `Yamaleela’ and `Vinodam’ is set to direct Balakrishna sooner than later. `These directors have a challenge on hand sine Gen X viewers are very smart and dislike clichéd fare.

So, veteran directors need to pick up new-age plots and avoid repeating themselves. Dish out racy movies devoid of melodrama, slapstick comedy, nevertheless an engaging film,” concludes producer Kumar Choudury.