Will Tollywood heroes stop making cringe-worthy films any time soon?

Hyderabad: Popularly called Megastar by his fans, actor Chiranjeevi is awaiting the release of his next film Bhola Shankar which will hit the screens on August 11.

The trailer of the film, released two days ago, is being trolled for all the right reasons. Movie buffs and Chiru fans alike are unhappy with the trailer.

Netizens are disappointed with the scripts Chiranjeevi is opting for. Bhola Shankar is the remake of the Tamil film Vedalam. While director Meher Ramesh has given his best, Chiranjeevi’s fans have been upfront about their star doing films that are high on quality content, not cringe content. It is understandable that fans want to revisit the vintage and mass avatar of Chiranjeevi but isn’t it time for the actor to think of doing something better?

Chiranjeevi is 67 years old and watching him play a lover boy on the big screen, dancing with actresses of his daughter’s age is just not ok. This is also the case with most of the heroes in Tollywood. Ravi Teja, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna, and even Nani have been working with heroines half of their age.

It is high time for senior actors of Tollywood to say yes to age-appropriate roles rather than just believing that fans only want pakka mass entertainers.

Tamil and Malayalam cinema lead the change

On the contrary, actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have been practising this already. Rajinikanth started playing father roles right from Darbar and Petta. Kamal Haasan played a grandfather in Vikram. This change in the roles chosen by these actors was much needed. It also shows that Tamil audiences, star fans included, have happily and wholeheartedly accepted this change of roles by their favourite actors.

The Malayalam film industry welcomed this change years ago but was not recognised by the rest of the country. It is also an undeniable fact that Bollywood will never be able to do what we are discussing.

Tollywood, on the one hand, is going places by making films that appeal to international audiences, while on the other, is still stuck on cringe-worthy plots, misogyny, and adult comedy in the name of jokes and masala entertainers. Let’s hope in the next few years, with many young filmmakers making their way into Telugu cinema, there will be a change that will be welcomed by audiences and fans alike.