I am surprised by Uday Kiran's suicide. All of us get our share of hard knocks in the school called life. Uday Kiran had been at the receiving end of high-handedness of some of the high and mighty of Tollywood. His death has also exposed the core issues of oligopoly dominating Tollywood which are being endlessly speculated upon on Telugu channels. Whether there is truth in that or not, whether or not the guilty will ever get punished or not, the laws of Karma will catch up with everyone one day - you can see the glimpses of such Karmic consequences in the way some of the family members of the "errant" powerful family suffered in their own personal lives too - somebody has married thrice, somebody else has ended a marriage too soon. Peace of mind will never return to them, neither will wages of sin be escaped ever.
Whether the speculation on dominating the Tollywood industry ceases or not, the days of oligopoly may soon be over because history teaches us that everytime a few people gang up together to stifle newcomers or corner the profits in the entire value chain from theatres to distribution to satellite rights, a tipping point like this occurs which will upstage the existing players who are calling the shots.
In Hollywood, this happened from the times of Goldwyn Mayer till the times of Steven Spielberg. In Bollywood, it hapened with the original trio of RK-Dilip-Dev to Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachan to the three Khans. Amitabh's over-dominance has bled the Bollywood industry with series of mega flops because the industry was revolving around the angry young man's machismo, it made the industry starve for good scripts, look for cheaper alternatives like Mithun Chakraborty and Anil Kapoor and eventually unleashed a new creative revolution that makes Bollywood the most celebrated industry in the world today - churning out regularly Rs.100-200 crore hits. Look at Sandalwood - Karnataka's film industry - which roared under Raj Kumar's mega stardom, driving creative composers, villains, heroines and producers out of Karnataka because they could not survive the big star-centric universe. It took many years of vacuum, government sops and renewed vigor to make people watch Kannada films again. Of course, though the film standards have gone up a few notches, the industry has gone back to more monopolistic days - with Raj Kumar's sons now being at the commanding heights of Sandalwood in distribution, content and production. Tamil Nadu used to be a leaf out of Andhra Pradesh in being oligopolistic but that has changed recently with Madam Jayalalitha seizing control of the trade by breaking up the segments concentrated upon by rivals from DMK family and restoring the order for small films to breathe free.
Tollywood has always been peculiarly haunted by somewhat singular film fraternity right from the days of Akkineni Vara Lakshmi Prasad (Late LV Prasad) who ventured into films from agricultural surpluses and built the modern Telugu film industry as we know today. That has led to more and more industrialists with agricultural background turning to film-production and direction - most of the themes till today therefore, resonate with feudalistic fervor. Over the years, the domination attained unassailability with the Kammas entering the fray and building stardom upon stardom. At the height of his glory in 1980s, after his coronation as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, late NT Rama Rao took a decision that at that time was taken with a regressive intent: kill any competition that can allow the next Superstar to rise up again. NTR took a measure to introduce the slab system of charging entertainment taxes on the basis of assumed occupancy rates - that effectively sealed the fate of small films and low budget films. ANR, Krishna, Shoban Babu and Krishnam Raju were just dividing their stardom and Chiranjeevi was yet to see the megastardom. He wanted to see a bright future for his son Balakrishna and ensure the oligarchy continues. It led to wipe out of many small films because the halls refused to screen films which did not guarantee a minimum attendance. It also led to more and more such theatre-owners get into the clutches of producers who made big banner films and ensured minimum eye-balls for their family heroes. It led to more consolidation at the top end forcing more and more small producers capitulate. It led to concentration of stardom but distribution and production returning to the likes of the few that rule the industry. Major distributors like Lakshmi Films got annihilated. Producers who made high-quality family fare like Navata Krishnam Raju and K Murari withdrew from film-making. Creativity has hit new nadirs although the market cap has expanded - that has widened the gap between the mighty and the meek. Yes, you are still making more films but fewer hit films.
Last year, according to one producer, there were 13 small-budget films which became superhits whereas only 9 big-budget films became hits. That means, despite the channels of exhibition and distribution being at the mercy of a few, audiences are clamoring for new content. Eventually, the audiences will move on from one megastar to another but the appetite for imaginative and innovative content will grow with maturing of audiences across the ages. Only then, when all-round talent is harvesting a bounty will the industry expand. Bollywood is in that sweet spot today - with atleast three heroines and a dozen heroes commanding a gross of Rs.100 crores. Tollywood in its 82 years is making hopelessly 200 films plus but only now has crossed Rs.100 crores. A Rajini and a Kamal have routinely crossed Rs.150 crores in recent times, from a neighbouring Kollywood, which is reinventing itself to expand markets yet cut its teeth into new and expanding cakes overseas. Zombie films will atrophy and take down the majority of the makers who continue to swear by them. New Order will emerge from those few who are not being wholeheartedly backed today. Film Industry after Film Industry has escaped this fall however big. Look at the biggest studio in South India- Ramoji Film City. It's valuation is up because of TV serials and tourism activity, not because of film shoots planned there. A few years back, one of Hyderabad's biggest Star Producer studios came up for outright sale - this is the studio that made some golden hits for ANR and NTR and made over 100 films in all Indian languages and created a Guinness Record. According to reports, the valuation came to around Rs.700 crores and that hasn't come from film negatives but from the land parcels embedded within the studio limits. Doesn't it tell you that if you continue making stupid masala films, it doesn't get you anywhere? Or, just because you are Mahesh Babu or Pawan Kalyan doesn't augur well for all the producers in Tollywood? My point in this excursion is to give a consumer's analysis of where the industry is going and whether that direction is desired by one and all. Thats a limited point to the main discussion.
Which ought to be really, why Uday Kiran had to give up so soon on his life. When you give up on your life, you are giving up on what can work from you from the next moment you stay alive. Acting is not the sole objective of life, if you are an actor. There are many actors who came to terms with what's not happening in their lives and then took charge of some things that made it happen in different ways:
Actor Tarun still acts in youthful roles, runs a restaurant and retains his zest for life.
Actor Raja is waiting for the perfect small-budget film and converted to Christianity. He finds more solace in his new religion.
Actor Rajendra Prasad has matured into mellowed roles and winning accolades with his versatility.
Actor Naresh has been experimenting with character roles and playing key roles in relation to the ruling heroes and heroines of Tollywood.
Actor Navdeep has not given up on himself and has played noticeable roles against superstars and also starring in small budget films.
Actor Pradeep, yesteryears hero in Jandhyala films, has reinvented himself as a top executive in an IT company.
Last heard, Uday Kiran has actually got a chance to hear four new stories from casting agencies I know of. Instead of listening to the new stories, he kept repeating his sob story, it seems. If only he has listened to new ideas and realised that life is not all about just acting...If only he realised that being alive offered infinite possibilities to his potential outside even films - as a restaurateur, TV serials, second heroes, character artist, sports coach, life coach...anything. Uday Kiran, R.I.P. You had so much potential but you limited life with your limitations, my friend. If only...
