It’s a wrap!

While we revel on Bollywood going to Hollywood, we can't say the same for Tollywood.
It's not that we have a dearth of talent or skill, but we're just not making innovative cinema. Pranav Krishnan who's studying filmmaking, says, " Our storylines are so repetitive and clich��d, it's fascinating how filmmakers are able to sell it to audiences time and again." When you look at Bollywood through a hawk-eyed lens, you'll notice a lot of similarities with the only striking difference being in their packaging.
How big is packaging?
Aditya Reddy, a degree student, opines, "Staying in tune with market trends, it is quite possible to efficiently sell old wine in a new bottle!" If you look at OSO , which borrowed its storyline from Karz, it isn't exactly "brilliant" cinema but it's more "intelligent" publicity and packaging' says Nisha Sharma, an avid movie buff.
Without completely dismissing Tollywood, there have been a small segment of filmmakers like Sekhar Kammula and Chandrashekar Yelleti and the likes, experimenting with new formulas and cast as well. In their case, the audiences and the BO seem to have appreciated their effort though why it remains off the mainstream market eludes many.
Quintessential heroine
Prithivi Reddy says, "It is a known observation that the 'heroine' has always been nothing more than just the "hero's" prop." That's a formula that has been fiercely marketed time and again. Whatever happened to southern talent? Is it the lack of talent or lack of stereotypical "beauty" that has been the cause?
When you talk about Bollywood, you have the Konkana Sens and Shefali Chayyas doing 'thought-provoking cinema' and have also tried their hand at commercial cinema without it affecting their niche in the industry. But in comparison when you look at Tollywood, you don't necessarily see actresses standing out for their brilliant performance. In a male-dominated industry that shouldn't come as a surprise but it's saddening to see that it still remains that way.
Macho moustache
Many actors up North might have endorsed the clean-shaven look, but our southern heroes are still seen to sporting the evermore moustache. "It's one thing to defend heterosexuality from metrosexuality but it's a whole other thing to promote the ideology of machismo through it," says Nisha. She also adds, "The formula of 'the hero' and 'the villain' is still blatantly weaved into narratives down south and especially when you contrast it with their off screen persona, it gets a little to surreal." While Saif Ali Khan or Akshay Kumar play characters that draw similarities from their offscreen image, more than often you see Tollywood 'heroes' portraying characters that are larger than life.
Art house
Other than a handful of them, one would fail if quizzed on art movies made in Tollywood. Recently, Vanaja, an art house movie made by Rajnesh Domalpalli, won accolades world over but failed to hit movie screens in the director's homeland - Andhra. With an array of actors exuding brilliance and an audience that has been deprived of innovative fresh cinema, it's time filmmakers redefine entertainment.