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* [http://saarega.com/index.php?option=com_radio&l=3&radio=tori-teluguone-usa Telugu Online Radio's]
* [http://www.justtollywood.com]
{{CinemaofIndia}}
{{CinemaofIndia}}


Revision as of 08:43, 29 January 2008

South Asian cinema

Telugu Cinema refers to the Telugu film industry. The Telugu cinema industry is referred by some as Tollywood; the origins of that name are disputed, but it is generally considered a portmanteau of "Telugu" and "Hollywood".

Industry

(1 crore = 10,000,000 rupees, approximately US$252,972.43 on Oct 24, 2007.)

The Telugu movie industry is based in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.

About 240 Telugu movies are released every year (approximately 3 every week). The Telugu film industry is the largest movie producer in India after the Hindi film industry [citation needed]. In 2005, the annual turnover reached Rs. 2.3 billion (US$57 million, as of July 17, 2007) with 700 million ticket sales. Popular movies tend to open during the three festive/holiday seasons of the region: Sankranthi, Ugadi, and Dussera. In 2004, total revenue for the Sankranthi season was around Rs. 1.5 billion (US$37 million, as of July 17, 2007). There are more than sixteen TV channels ( Gemini TV[1], Eenadu TV[2], Eenadu TV 2, MAA TV[3], GCV, Doordharshan, Teja TV [4], Teja News,TV 9,TV 5, N TV,Bhakti TV,ZEE Telugu,Samskuruthi,Vissa,Subhavaarta,etc.,) dedicated exclusively to feature programs related to Telugu movies.

Box Office Collections

Year Collections (in millions of Indian Rupees)
1980 819
1985 1,526
1990 3,333
1995 7,985
2000 14,011
2005 23,044

The Telugu film industry accounts for 1% of the gross domestic product of Andhra Pradesh.[5] Telugu films enjoy significant patronage in the neighboring southern States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka.

There is a fair amount of dispersion amongst the Indian film industries. Many successful Telugu films have been remade by the Hindi and Tamil film industries. For instance, Pokiri which was a Telugu film starring Tollywood heartthrob Mahesh Babu, was remade into Tamil and now being remade in Hindi with Salman Khan as the lead actor. Tollywood has also remade a fair number of Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and other language films.

The state of Andhra Pradesh has more than 2700 theaters, of which 150 are in the city of Hyderabad alone.

File:GntCinePlex.JPG
A Cineplex at Guntur.

The Tollywood film distribution is divided into 12 areas:-

I) Nizam

  1. Hyderabad
  2. Rangareddy
  3. Medak
  4. Nalgonda
  5. Nizamabad (Induru)
  6. Warangal
  7. Adilabad
  8. Khammam
  9. Mahabubnagar (Palamuru)
  10. Karimnagar (Srirampuru)
  11. Raichur (Karnataka)

II) Rayalaseema

  1. Kurnool
  2. Cuddapah
  3. Anantapur
  4. Chittoor
  5. Bellary(Karnataka)

III) Nellore

IV) Guntur

  1. Guntur
  2. Prakasam

V) Krishna

VI) East Godavari

VII) West Godavari

VIII) Vizag

  1. Vishakapatnam
  2. Vijayanagaram
  3. Srikakulam

IX) Tamil Nadu

X) Karnataka

XI) Orissa

XII) Overseas

History

Early development: 1921-1930

The Telugu film industry originated with the silent film in 1921, with the production of Bhisma Pratighna. The film was directed by Raghupati Venkaiah and his son R.S. Prakash[6]. The two would go on to produce and direct dozens of films throughout the decade, casting theater actors in major roles[7]. They established a long-lasting precedent of focusing exclusively on religious themes; Nandanar[8], Gajendra Moksham, and Matsyavatar, three of their most famous productions, centered on religious figures, parables, and morals[9].

Rise of the Talkie: 1931-1947

In 1931, the first Telugu film with audible dialogue, Bhakta Prahlad, was produced by H.M. Reddy[10]. Popularly known as 'talkies', films with sound quickly grew in number and fanbase. In 1934, the industry saw its first major commercial success with Lavakusa. Directed by C. Pullaiah and starring Parupalli Subbarao and Sriranjani in lead roles, the film attracted unprecedented numbers of viewers to theaters and thrust the young film industry into mainstream culture[11].

By 1936, the mass appeal of film allowed directors to move away from religious and mythological themes[12]. That year, under the direction of Krithiventi Nageswara Rao, Prema Vijayam, a film focusing on social issues, was released. Its success prompted the production of dozens of other immensely successful 'social films', notably 1939's Vandemataram and Malli Pelli. Touching on societal problems like the status of Untouchables and the practice of giving dowry, Telugu films increasingly focused on contemporary living: twenty-nine of the ninety-six films released between 1937 and 1947 had social themes[13].

The outbreak of World War II and the subsequent resource scarcity caused the British Raj to impose a limit on the use of filmstrip in 1943 to 11,000 feet[14], a sharp reduction from the 20,000 feet that was common till then[15]. As a result, the number of films produced during the War was substantially lower than in previous years. Nonetheless, prior to the ban, an important shift occurred in the industry: independent studios formed, actors and actresses were signed to contracts limiting who they could work for, and films moved from social themes to folklore legends[16]. 1942's Balanagamma typified these changes: the film featured fantasy elements of cultural lore, was produced by Gemini Studios, and its producers added a restricting clause to the lead actress' contract. By 1947, nearly all films were produced by studios with contracted actors.

Budgets

(1 crore = 10,000,000 rupees, approximately US$252,850 or €176,210 on Dec 20, 2007.)
File:TeluguMovieSuper.jpg
A movie poster.

The budgets for Telugu movies typically range from 20 to 40 crores per film. Pre-lease revenues for popular films can range from 12 to 20 crores per film and post-release business for these movies can be 25–40 crores depending on the success of the movie. Popular actors like Chiranjeevi,Nagarjuna,Nandamuri Balakrishna,Pawan Kalyan, Venkatesh,Mahesh Babu, Prabhas and Ravi Teja are some of the highest paid actors in Tollywood.

Singers

The Telugu film industry has a reputation for producing many singers, such as Ghantasala, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela, S. Janaki. S. P. Balasubrahmanyam holds the record for singing the most number of songs (approximately 39,000)

Fans

Well-known stars of Telugu film industry have devoted fan followings in the southern India. Nandamuri Balakrishna, Sr N. T .R, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, S.V.Ranga Rao, Krishna,Krisnam Raju,Akkineni Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Mahesh Babu, Pawan Kalyan,Ravi Teja Prabhas,,Mohan Babu, Jr. NTR, AND Chiranjeevi are very popular and enjoy a significant fan following among the Telugu movie audience.

Trivia

  • 80 Telugu films were made in the first five years after the release of Bhakta Prahlada.
  • A long-time Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. T. Rama Rao, was a popular actor of Telugu Cinema.
  • Chiranjeevi is present popular icon of Tollywood film industry.

See also

References

  1. ^ www.sunnetwork.org/geminitv/
  2. ^ www.eenaduinfo.com/etv.htm
  3. ^ www.maatv.com/
  4. ^ www.sunnetwork.org/tejatv/
  5. ^ http://osdir.com/ml/culture.region.india.zestmedia/2007-01/msg00117.html
  6. ^ http://www.totaltollywood.com/articles/history/index.php?id=1
  7. ^ http://www.cinegoer.com/telugucinema8.htm
  8. ^ http://www.indiafilm.com/lm.htm
  9. ^ http://www.tamilentertainment.com/Memories/98/fna/fna1.htm
  10. ^ http://www.idlebrain.com/research/anal/anal-his2.html
  11. ^ http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2007/01/19/stories/2007011901020100.htm
  12. ^ http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2007/01/19/stories/2007011901020100.htm
  13. ^ http://www.cinegoer.com/telugucinema5.htm
  14. ^ http://www.cinegoer.com/telugucinema7.htm
  15. ^ http://www.cinegoer.com/telugucinema10.htm
  16. ^ http://www.cinegoer.com/telugucinema6.htm
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