Student crush

Out of 125 films released and handful turned out to be hits. Magadheera became the biggest grosser in the history of Telugu cinema bettering the Rs 60 crore mark set by Mahesh Babu’s Pokkiri in 2005. Ram Charan was easily the star of the year Kajal Agarwal became the most promising actress in Tollywood. Anushka made a fantastic comeback with Arundhanthi as she carried the entire film on her shoulders. The incredible success of the film made her hot not only in Andhra but also in Tamil as all top stars wanted to be cast opposite her.

Gone were the days when the Tollywood boasted of the sugar coated family entertainers. Now, the industry is busy racing towards violence and bloodshed territory.

Bolder and wilder than ever, all the big Tollywood movies in 2009 had a generous amount of blood and gore, earning them an A certificate. The Telugu film industry has created a record of sorts by releasing 30 A certified movies in 2009. And surprisingly, all of them were box office successes.

Some of the A-Listers in 2009: Arundhati, Magadheera, Billa, Aanjaneyulu, Drona, Sankham, Rechipo, Ek Niranjan, Kurradu, Amaravati, Siddham and Kasko. The A-films producers claim that a wind of change gripped Tollywood. Shyam Prasad Reddy, producer of Arundhati, which raked up sensation among the audience with its violent subject, said that violence was an emotion and if the story demanded it, there was nothing wrong in incorporating it with a judicious dose. “The audiences want stories with a different treatment. Arundhati would have been a futile attempt sans violence,” he maintained. “I went ahead with taking A certificate rather than deletion of violent scenes.”

Another big producer Suresh Babu, said that many horror films and thrillers released in 2009 were good grosser and even blockbusters. “This is a testimony to the fact that the audiences don’t really care about the certifications. At the end of the day, it’s an individual decision. More important, it is the content that matters.”

The A certification has become a crowd puller of sorts, observed some of the film criticis. The Censor Board members too agreed that the A certificate has become an added advantage. The young audiences expect to see bolder content now. Moreover, the filmmakers put up graphic hoardings to publicize the films even before they send it for certification. So, by then the film generates a buzz and an A certificate adds to it.

Censor board officials also claimed that adult certification will affect the satellite rights of the film. Generally, the TV channels prefer to stay away from getting A certified films because of its violent and explicit content. If the filmmakers want to sell their movies for a better price, they have to delete objectionable scenes to get a ‘U’ Certification.