General
A shocking incident unfolded recently when young filmmaker Mohan Srivastava slapped himself with a slipper to express his disappointment over the poor turnout for his latest film Tribanadhari Barbarick. Despite his emotional appeal urging Telugu audiences to support his work, the film failed to pick up momentum at the box office.
Noted producer Raj Kandukuri, who has been a strong supporter of young talent in Telugu cinema, reacted to the incident with concern. “It was heartbreaking to watch a young director take such a drastic step. It was quite painful and unfortunate,” he said.
Kandukuri pointed out that even appeals from actors like Vishwak Sen and Nara Rohit, asking audiences to give small films a fair chance, have had only limited impact. Several recent releases like Arjun Chakravarthy, Kanya Kumari, The 100, Bun Butter Jam, Oh Bama Ayyo Rama, and Meghalu Chepina Prema Katha among others failed to strike a chord with viewers. “Never before have young actors and directors felt so low and hopeless. The past few years have been especially unkind to them and more than 30-odd films had no takers,” he observed.
Having produced content-driven films such as Pellichoopulu and Mental Madhilo, Kandukuri still firmly believes that new-age filmmakers need to be encouraged. But he stressed that content alone is not enough. “A song from the film should go viral, or the teaser must create buzz. Without that, audiences are unwilling to come to theatres,” he explained.
According to him, producers also need to rethink their marketing approach. “Making a good film is only half the job. One must plan a promotional strategy. For a small film, at least ₹50–60 lakh should be invested in marketing, while a big film needs around ₹3 crore. Hype and buzz before release are crucial. Unfortunately, several films this year released quietly and crashed,” he said.
He further added that while Malayalam and Tamil audiences often embrace small or non-star films, Telugu audiences remain more selective. “We did see thematic films like Committee Kurrollu and Aay work, but we need more such successes to break the monotony of action-heavy commercial films. Even some star-driven projects collapsed after three days, proving again that content is king and stardom is secondary,” Kandukuri concluded.