‘Fidaa’ and ‘Mallesham’ to ‘Dasara’ and ‘Balagam’, Telangana narratives go mainstream in Telugu cinema. There are challenges as well

The other recent films with stories from Telangana include debut director Vishvak Khanderao’s Skylab inspired by the fear of a space station falling over a village in the late 1970s and Vidya Sagar Chinta’s romantic comedy Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam. K V Anudeep’s wacky comedy Jathi Ratnalu narrated the journey of three men from Jogipet.

Dheekshith Shetty, Keerthy Suresh and Nani in ‘Dasara’ was set in the vicinity of Telangana coal mines
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Special Arrangement

Priyadarshi Pulikonda, who featured in Mallesham, Balagam, Jathi Ratnaluand Mail: Kambalapalli Kathalu (a comedy that explored internet penetration in rural Telangana in the early 2000s), says the time is ripe for more stories that reflect subcultures of different regions of the Telugu States, and attributes the rise of movies set in Telangana to the writers, poets, musicians and political thinkers reclaiming their identity.

Both he and Venu point out to the popularity of Telangana folk music videos by independent artistes on YouTube, with some of these videos clocking several million views. For Balagam, the makers roped in folk singers to lend authenticity to the narrative. 

Neha Shetty and Siddhu Jonnalagadda in ‘DJ Tillu’
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While films have begun exploring rural Telangana like never before, the Hyderabadi Telangana has also gained prominence. Think Pelli Choopulu, Arjun Reddy and DJ Tillu, which had directors Tharun Bhasker and Sandeep Reddy Vanga, actors Vijay Deverakonda, Priyadarshi, Rahul Ramakrishna and Siddhu Jonnalagadda partaking in these narratives. 

Meanwhile, the digital space is not far behind. The black comedy Sathi Gani Rendu Ekaralu, streaming on Aha, is the recent addition to stories from Telangana. In Save The Tigers (Disney+ Hotstar), Priyadarshi speaks the Hyderabad Telangana dialect. 

Parallely, stories reflecting the native culture of other regions of Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema are also being explored. Director Praveen Kandregula’s indie film Cinema Bandi, director Sukumar’s Rangasthalam and Pushpa – The Rise, and the recent web series Newsense on Aha are cases in point.

Films that veer away from the norm and offering something new have the potential to be box-office hits. The Chittoor dialect added to the appeal of Pushpa-The Rise. Balagam was a raging hit in Telangana and mopped up a few international film awards. And Dasara was a massive success in Telangana and the overseas markets.

On the flip side, the rural Telangana films did not succeed in Andhra Pradesh. Insiders point out that the Telangana dialect and festivals such as Bathukamma and Peerla Panduga do not strike a chord with other Telugu-speaking regions. Venu Udugula and Priyadarshi are confident that it is just a matter of time before people get acclimatised to the Telangana narratives. Venkat Siddareddy suggests being pragmatic with the budgets to minimise losses and adds, “Marathi cinema has its own following and is thriving in Mumbai which is predominantly making Hindi cinema for a larger audience. Similarly, stories from Telangana will co-exist with the narratives from other regions in the Telugu States.”