Lack of novelty sinks ‘Mega’ flicks

Hyderabad: The last one year has not been good enough for three top mega heroes Pawan Kalyan “Sardar Gabbar Singh,” Ram Charan Teja “Bruce Lee” and now Allu Arjun whose much-hyped film “Sarrainodu” does not boast of a novel plot because it is again a mishmash of action, romance, comedy, which is just enough to draw record-breaking openings (Rs 18 crore in two days).
“These mega heroes proved their charisma by drawing record-breaking openings and showed that their fan following is intact,” said director Sunil Kumar Reddy. “Stars should strike a balance between art and commerce, but due to high costs involved in their films, they are compromising on content and dishing out masala fare which is not attracting viewers beyond one week” he added.
Sunil Kumar cited the example of yesteryear superstars like NTR, ANR and Krishna who sustained their stardom for longer innings. He said “unlike in the past, where cinema had three to four weeks of shelf life, the fate of a film is now decided in just three days.”
However, director Devi Prasad agrees that mega heroes carry the pressure of having many fans. “Without any doubt, stars' first priority is to cater to their huge fan followers. Since high stakes are involved in the latest films, they cannot take big chances. However, they could try to scale down budgets for cutting losses” he said and added “Everybody wants to cook good food, but once in a while, there could be less spice or salt in it and disappoint viewers.”