Fresh content will bring people to theatres, says Director Venu Udugula

Hyderabad: The Telugu cinema industry is currently going through a drastic change like no other. The first ever Telugu cinema was Bhakta Prahalad and released in 1932. Forget international platforms...Telugu cinema, even after being India's largest film industry, could not even make it to national platforms even though it has been existing for ages now. It took a lot of time to reach where we are right now.

Rajamouli is one of the many directors who worked for the welfare of Telugu cinema. Thanks to the director for coming up with films like Baahubali and RRR that took Telugu cinema, and the artists to an International platform, and even won an Oscar Award.

What next?

But what next? Are the doors for Telugu cinema opened on an international platform? Is this recognition going to make a difference to Telugu films, opportunities, and the market? Yes, says director Venu Udugula who made Needi Naadi Oke Katha and Virata Parvam.

"With RRR bringing an Oscar home, a lot of revolutionary changes are going to take place. The value of content has increased. If there were no OTT platforms or digitalisation, RRR would not have reached these many people across the world. So this success has proved that there is a lot of scope for good and watchable content to reach across the world. Nothing can stop it," says director Venu.

Content is the Hero

Most of the time, it is the hero and heroine's face value that decides the budget. And when the story fails to impress the audience, even the hero cannot come to its rescue. When asked about it the director said, "It is the content that decides the investment from now. That is how it should be. It is very much important to spend the right amount of money a story deserves in order to reach the global platform. That is how and where RRR made a difference."

Heroes Vs. Story

In the same year as RRR, many films from A-list actors of Tollywood have also released. Even Chiranjeevi's Acharya, Nagarjuna's The Ghost, Ravi Teja's Khiladi and Ramarao On Duty, Prabhas's Radhe Shyam, Mohan Babus Son Of India, Vijay Deverakonda's Liger, many big-budget films failed to impress audiences. But films like DJ Tillu, Karthikeya 2, Sita Ramam, Bimbisara, etc. are the ones with some fresh content that managed to win the hearts of the audiences.

Right now, it is an undeniable fact that nobody can force audiences to come to the theaters and watch a film. With teasers, trailers, and even reviews being available at their fingertips, audiences are sensible enough to decide if they want to watch the film or not. Also, the ticket price is Rs 150-200 and the food and beverage costs triple the cost of the ticket. So for a family of four to watch a film, it cost not less than Rs 3000.