Who says only the likes of Spiderman, Harry Potter or Munna Bhai are allowed to have one adventure after the other. With sequel fever hitting Tollywood, mana heroes too are geared up to entertain audiences with their escapades all over again. While Allu Arjun’s Arya 2, Krishnudu’s Village Lo Vinayakudu, Gaayam 2 starring Jagapathi Babu and Aditya 369 are being shot currently, Diary, touted as a sequel to Charmee’s Mantra has already hit the theatres. Blame it on lack of original scripts or the desire to cash in on the previous movies’ success, sequels have become the flavour of Tollywood now.
Sharath Kumar, senior film critic and member of Film Censor Board says, “Since the director of a hit movie has already captured the pulse of the audience, he plans the sequel in a hope to repeat that Box Office magic. When it is a new film, the director has to think of different ways to draw the audience to the theatres. Whereas, it’s not hard for the sequel of a hit movie to attract the crowds.”
Some film makers who are making sequels, are insisting on casting the same stars, even though they are undertaking this project years after the first film’s release. Praveen Sri, director of Gaayam 2 says, “The sequel will be directed in such a way that even youngsters who couldn’t watch Gaayam 15 years ago can easily understand the story. We are planning to cast the same team of actors in the film even though they may have aged considerably, to retain the authenticity. This sequel takes off from where Gaayam ends.”
Most of all, bringing out a sequel makes commercial sense, feel film makers. Mahi, the CEO of Moonwater Pictures, which is producing Village Lo Vinkayakudu, says, “Since a brand is already established with the first film, we feel it is safe to use the tried and tested formula again. With a huge number of people having watched the first movie, we are sure they will come back to watch the sequel.”
What’s more, the makers of Village lo Vinayakudu hope to break a popular Tollywood superstition by bringing out the sequel. “Usually, there is a belief in the industry that most directors’ second movie flops. As the Vinayakudu sequel will be the second movie for our director, we wanted to break the jinx by repeating the success formula,” he quips.
But going by the bad track record of previous sequels in Tollywood, success is not always guaranteed. In fact, Money Money and Shankardada Zindabad were big duds at the Box Office.
Aditya, a director opines, “I wanted to do a sequel of Shankarabharanam. But since all the sequels in Tollywood were a flop, I’m giving the idea a miss. Sequels may be very successful in Hollywood and Bollywood, but the Telugu audiences are different. In fact, because filmmakers fail to live up to the expectations of the first super hit film, the idea often backfires.”
Aditya, a director opines, “I wanted to do a sequel of Shankarabharanam. But since all the sequels in Tollywood were a flop, I’m giving the idea a miss. Sequels may be very successful in Hollywood and Bollywood, but the Telugu audiences are different. In fact, because filmmakers fail to live up to the expectations of the first super hit film, the idea often backfires.”
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