This story is from April 7, 2010

Tollywood's super combos

TNN / Updated: Jan 14, 2017, 18:55 IST

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Tollywood A-line stars and filmmakers team up to spell magic at the BO. TOI reports

T-town superstars undeniably like to work with different directors but occasionally, prefer to repeat some directors to woo success at the BO. Heady combinations like Mahesh-Trivikram, Pawan Kalyan-Suryah, NTR Jr-Vinayak and Allu Arjun-Sukumar evoked enough hype among viewers and trade circles as fans just love to see such re-unions. It is believed that the ��duo combination�� works magic.
Apparently, big producers who rope in a ��crazy team�� considered lucky are just not bothered about the huge pay packets they have to shell out. Following up on Arya 2 (Allu Arjun-Sukumar) and Adhurs (NTR Jr-Vinayak), trade pundits are pinning big hopes on Pawan Kalyan-Suryah��s Puli and Mahesh-Trivikram��s untitled film, to receive overwhelming response.
With the exception of NTR-Vinayak, Mahesh-Gunasekar and Ravi-Teja-Puri Jagannath teams, other duos joined hands only twice till date. ��Director Vinayak is more like a brother to me and also he is a true professional and knows how to extract the best from me,�� says NTR Jr. Likewise, even Ravi Teja shares a great bonhomie with director Puri. After smashing hits like Idiot and Amma Nanna O Tamilammayi the duo was hailed as ��hotshot�� before Neninthe scuttled their dream run. ��Our friendship is much beyond films,�� said the lanky actor.
Even yesteryear superstars had their share of favourite directors. Thespian actor NTR had Kamalakar Kameshwar Rao and K Raghavendra Rao, while ANR preferred Adurti Subbarao and Madhusudan Rao. Even the subsequent generation followed it up �� Chiranjeevi did more films with Kodandarami Reddy and K Raghavendra Rao, while Balakrishna opted for Kodandarami Reddy and Kodi Ramakrishna.

New generation stars like Mahesh Babu, NTR Jr and Pawan Kalyan too, aren��t left behind. Mahesh Babu did three films with director Gunasekar (Okkadu, Arjun and Sainikudu) and NTR Jr did a hat-trick with director V V Vinayak (Aadi, Samba and Adhurs). Pawan Kalyan did two films with director Karunakaran (Tholi Prema and Baalu) and is now working with Tamil director S J Suryah for the second time in his upcoming film Puli. ��We did a breezy romantic entertainer Kushi together but now we have joined hands for a more purposeful and message-oriented cop film,�� said director S J Surya.
Similarly, Meher Ramesh is quite excited about teaming up with NTR Jr in Shakti after the not-so-impressive Kantri. ��I have chosen a unique script that can accommodate a larger-than-life role which also offers a big span to live up to the big expectations,�� says the promising filmmaker. Though heady combinations too had their share of duds like Sainikudu, Baalu, Kantri and Neninthe, it hasn��t deterred producer Aditya Babu from roping in Allu Arjun and Sukumar for Arya 2 by shelling out big bucks. ��Of course, big-time combinations evoke huge hype and also you can spend lavishly since buyers will procure them for good sums. However, we need a solid script to live up to the big expectations,�� he explains. ��Odd combinations of stars and directors belonging to different schools of filmmaking could boomerang,�� he sums up the trend with a precautionary note.
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