Tollywood loses out once again

Once again, the year 2009, will go down as an immensely forgettable one for Tollywood, as the local film industry draws a blank at the 55th National Film Awards.

Why have the National Awards been so elusive to an industry which churns out the biggest money-spinners in southern cinema? The last films to have bagged national honours were: Kamli (Best Feature Film at the 54th National Awards) and Hope (Best Feature Film for social issues at the 54th National Awards).

The Telugu entries for the 55th National Awards, Happy Days and Mee Shreyobilashi failed to make any impact on the jury. Earlier Telugu films have won the National Award in categories like best regional film, playback singing and music. Only three actresses Sharada (Nimajjanam in 1977), Vijayashanti (Karthavyam in 1990) and Archana (Daasi in 1981) have won the coveted Best Actor (female) Award. The top three honours — best film, best actor and best direction—has not come to Tollywood yet!

“It’s very unfortunate. We’ve been getting National Awards on and off, maybe it’s time to get them more frequently and in more important categories,” feels actor Venkatesh who’s won several state film awards and popular film awards. He says, he’ll make a “serious effort” to grab the big one. Filmmaker Neelakanta who won two National Awards including best screenplay for his debut Telugu film Show says, “It’s sad that our film industry didn’t win anything at the 55th National Film Awards. I think a potential award winning film should have a tight script and wholesome entertainment like Chak De! India or Taare Zameen Par.”

A couple of Tollywood bigwigs say that Malayalam filmmakers have lobbied for the national honours and ensured a richer haul of awards for Mollywood. But filmmaker Chandra Siddharth feels otherwise. “It’s better to dish out refreshing plots and experimental films than indulging in the blame game,” he confesses. He feels that at the “national level”, competition is “tough”. “I had no regrets when my film Aa Nalaguru didn’t impress the national jury while it bagged awards everywhere else,” he reasons. Supporting his view, filmmaker Mohana Krishna Indraganti also feels that Telugu films have “earned” enough “prejudice” by churning out sub-standard films for years. “We have to undo all that,” he says, going on to add that filmmakers should “introspect and see where the local film industry stands vis-à-vis Indian films and world cinema. It’s wrong to bifurcate films as art and commercial, since awards are given purely for ‘artistic’ excellence.” Indraganti’s Grahanam was the best film of a debutant director at the 52nd National Awards. “One can’t make a film on a social issue and force it on the audience,” he says.

Unfortunately, even the Telugu film audience seems to have no fascination for award-winning films. Even after bagging national awards, films like Kamli, Show, Grahanam, and Hope did not the set box-office on fire, unlike award-winning Malayalam and Tamil films which were well received. “Telugu audiences don’t watch award-winning films because they feel these films are ‘art-house’ and not entertaining enough,” laments filmmaker Arunprasad. He elaborates, “For the Telugu audience only entertainers
work, not realistic stuff.”

Seems like, Telugu filmmakers still have long way to go to before they get consistent national recognition.