Five Films By Telugu Filmmakers That Are Out Of Their Comfort Zone

Srikanth Addala – Narappa

Addala has so far made soft-hearted slice-of-life films. His movies don't involve violence much. Though there are action scenes in Mukunda(2014) and Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013), he's known for his trademark dialogues that embrace the cause of goodness. If you remove the humanitarian values from the soul of Relangi Mavayya (played by Prakash Raj), then there'll be no SVSC. The entire film stands on Mavayya's ability to smile in times of distress. 

Narappa, which is currently under production, won't be anywhere close to his previous movies. It's a remake of Asuran (2019) and this drama is going to be blood-curdling, as it's about casteism and its evil tentacles. 

 Sekhar Kammula – Leader (2010)

When Kammula made Leader a decade ago, everybody was shocked because it was a genre he hadn't touched until then. The four films he had made prior to Leader were strongly rooted in the urban milieu, but he somehow managed to mold this drama from the prisms of politics. He took the concerns of people living in small towns and caste-discrimination into account. His biggest hits, such as Fidaa (2017) and Happy Days(2007), still remain on top of the charts, but, over the years, Leader has also earned a cult following.

Leader is not his best work and it has too many flaws, but the idea of an honest politician bribing his own party members to bring him to power has struck a chord with his fans. 

SS Rajamouli – Maryada Ramanna (2010)

After delivering a big blockbuster (Magadheera, 2009), Rajamouli suddenly shifted gears and made Maryada Ramanna with Sunil. It was a gamble he was willing to play and he emerged as a winner once again. Rajamouli is a director who has regularly made his heroes wield weapons. His protagonists aren't usually seen with bare hands in the movie posters. They hold axes, swords, maces, etc. But he turned the tables with this film and made Sunil's character a lover of non-violence. 

Sunil doesn't play a daredevil hero who has the power to send his enemies flying with a punch. He rather stars as an easy-going youth who struggles to keep a not-so-well-paying job.  

 Deva Katta – Vennela (2005)

Writers (of fiction and screenplays) take bits and pieces from their own lives, or the lives of their friends, and carefully chisel them in order to come up with their debut works. Deva Katta, who kick-started his career by zooming in on the romance genre, hasn't gone to that area again in a decade-and-a-half. His other films also have love songs and cheesy conversations, but they're mostly coated with political themes. It's hard to say now if he'll ever change tracks and make another romantic comedy. 

Hence Vennela, a film that lights up with the stories of Telugus in the United States, in retrospect, is the odd one out in his filmography. 

Sukumar – 1: Nenokkadine (2014)

Sukumar has experimented with his style a lot and it's prudently evident in his movies. When the news of his collaboration with Mahesh Babu broke out, his ardent followers got decked up to bask in the glory of his experimentation. But the festive cheers died down soon after the movie released, as it turned out to be way different from what they had in mind. 

Today, Mahesh Babu's fans feel bad that 1: Nenokkadine didn't do well at the box office. And they offer the same sentiment of pity to Sukumar, as well. Sometimes, the success of a film cannot be gauged by the numbers it makes at the ticket window; therefore, they need to be given a longer rope.