Mythological characters, a hit in T-town

Prashanth Bhat May 10, 2011, 12.00am IST
(Allu Arjun in ‘Badrinath’)

What's common between " Magadheera," "Badrinath," "Anaganaga Oo Dheerudu," "Shakti" and a whole horde of Tollywood movies that have released or are ready to release?

They are all period films with heroes getting their mythological swagger on, complete with swords, bare chests, horses, a generous dose of divine intervention and of course, apsara-esque damsels in distress. With the promos of Allu Arjun's "Badrinath," looking eerily similar to that of his cousin Ram Charan Tej's "Magadheera," the comparisons are inevitable. Some filmmakers admit that this is no coincidence claiming that most of these films seem to be in the grip of "Magadheera" fever.

The facts speak for themselves. While "Magadheera" apparently spent ` 6 crores on the sets, `4 crores was spent on the sets of "Badrinath." Both the movies are produced by Allu Aravind and the music for both is composed by MN Keeravani. Meanwhile, the fact that the "Badrinath" director, VV Vinayak and the fim's star, Allu Arjun keep insisting at all public events that there are no similarities between the two films is reason enough for anyone to believe that the comparisons are justified.

Tollywood insiders too admit that the period movie trend may be inspired by the success of "Magadheera." Tammareddy Bharadwaja, senior film maker, says, "Ever since "Arundhati" and "Magadheera" did well at the box office, the rest of the industry started following their footsteps. Also, since there is an irrational craze to make high budget films right now, producers are turning towards mythological films. It is the only genre where you can boast of spending crores for creating the sets and the look of the film. But what they don't realize is that if these films flop, the blow to the producer will be severe.

True to what Tammareddy said, "Anaganaga Oo Dheerudu." a period film starring Siddharth, bombed at the box office, leaving its producers poorer by more than `10 crore. Urban hero Siddarth's portrayal of a warrior didn't go down well with the audience. Ditto with Junior NTR in " Shakti." Despite wearing a fake wig and trying to reenact "Magadheera" stunts, the movie was a debacle. But the lesson isn't learnt.

Now, Nagarjuna will also be seen in a period look in "Rajanna" and Mahesh Babu in Mani Rathnam's bi-lingual epic drama is said to be playing the role of a Pallava King.

There is also a buzz that Prabhas' movie with Rajamouli too will be a story with an epic set-up. Not to forget, the umpteen movies being made on Shiridi Sai Baba, Satya Sai Baba and other godly figures. This copycat trend may be at its peak, but with budgets that are fixed at around ` 35 crores, the risks are huge. "If a hero delivers a hit, producers run after him for five years and burn their fingers only after six or eight flops. It's the same story with movies. Since "Magadheera" became a hit, every other hero and director wants to do period film where there is scope to spend crores. They don't work on the script, story or relevance. It is a pure display of graphics, heroes' abs and grandeur. The plot is lost. "Magadheera" worked because it was a novel genre then, but why will people want to see the same things again?" producer Nattikumar claims.

Director Jaya who keeps a track of industry's trade trends, seconds the opinion. "There is a grandeur about these kind of films. And because "Magadheera" made it big, filmmakers think it is safe to travel in the path which worked for others. But the scripts of these films usually fall flat, leaving these period films in losses."

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