Telugu film industry

This article is about the Telugu film industry. For the Bengali film industry sometimes called "Tollywood", see Bengali cinema.

Tollywood (టాలీవుడ్) refers to the Telugu language film industry. The name derives the concept from Hollywood, Telugu + Hollywood. Sometimes, the term Tollywood is also used to refer to the Bengali cinema industry as a mix of Tollygunge + Hollywood.

Industry

(1 crore = 10,000,000 rupees, approximately US$230,000 or €190,000 on May 11, 2005.)

Telugu is the second largest spoken language in India after Hindi and Telugu movie industry is based in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. After Bollywood (Nickname for Hindi Movie Industry), more number of movies are made in Telugu every year than any other language in India. The first Telugu film Bhishma Pratigna was made in 1922 by R.S. Prakash. Yaragudipati Varada Rao (1903-1973) was another notable contributor to the Telugu movie industry. He was an actor and director, who directed silent films like Pandava Nirvana, Pandava Agnathavaas in 1930 and Hari Maya in 1932. The first telugu talkie Bhakta Prahlada, was released in 1931. It was directed by Hanumappa Muniappa Reddy. Most of the initial Telugu talkies released had mythological stories that drawed inspiration from the vibrant Telugu drama and stage industry. In 1936, Krittiventi Nageswara Rao made the first telugu film not based on myhtology, Premavijayam. This film influenced other telugu film-makers into making such films. Some popular themes of these films (often called 'social' films) were the feudal zamindari system (Raitu Bidda, 1939), untouchability (Mallapilla, 1938), and widow remarriage. Since then, there have been both 'social'(contemporary) and mythological or folk stories in Telugu cinema.

Currently, about 150 Telugu movies are released every year with approximately two releases every week. In 2005, the annual turnover reached to Rs. 2.3 Billion ($52 Million) on ticket sales of 700 million. Popular movies tend to open during the three festive seasons of the region: Sankranthi, Summer, and Dushera. In 2004, the total business for the Sankranthi season was around Rs. 1.5 Billion (150 Crores). There are at least three TV channels that are dedicated exclusively to feature programs related to Telugu movies.

This is a chart of trend of box office collections of Tollywood with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Tollywood Box Office
1980	819
1985	1,526
1990	3,333
1995	7,985
2000	14,011
2005	23,044

Telugu film industry accounts for 1% of the gross state domestic product of Andhra Pradesh.

Crossover from Kollywood and Bollywood

Many famous Bollywood actresses often take time to do Telugu movies, mainly due to large remunerations^{[citation needed]} and the quick pace of production. Well-known stars like Sonali Bendre and Amisha Patel were paid about Rs. 75 lakhs^{[citation needed]} per movie while smaller stars like Katrina Kaif were paid a handsome 60 lakhs^{[citation needed]}. Sadaf, Bhumika Chawla and Charmi (all Bombay girls) charge 50-60 lakhs per film^{[citation needed]}. Shriya, Genelia - the leading female stars are paid 30-40 lakhs per film^{[citation needed]}, depending on the number of days they shoot. Trisha now gets about 80 lakhs per movie.

For young heroines, waiting for a break in Bollywood - Telugu movies are good place to begin with and are considered a gateway. This is because Tollywood is the second biggest movie market in India after Bollywood and the work there is closely monitored by big names in Hindi film industry who are on the lookout for storylines to remake and fresh talent be it actors or technicians.

Budgets

(1 crore = 10,000,000 rupee, approximately US$230,000 or €190,000 on May 11, 2005.)

File:TeluguMovieSuper.jpg

Akkineni Nagarjuna as Akhil in Super (2005).

The budgets for Telugu movies typically range between 7-15 crores per film. Pre-lease revenues for popular films can range between 12-20 crores per film and post-release business for these movies can be around 25-50 crores depending on the success of the movie. Popular actors like Balakrishna, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Mahesh Babu ,chiranjeviare some of the highest paid actors in Tollywood.

Fans

Well-known stars of Tollywood have devoted fan followings in the South. While Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao leads the list of actors with huge fan base, Akkineni Nageswara Rao , Krishna, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi, Bala krishna, Mahesh Babu are very popular and enjoy a significant fan following among the Telugu moive watchers.

Miscellaneous

The first Telugu talkie movie - Bhakta Prahlada was released in 1931.
First Hindi and Tamil talkie films were also released in 1931.
80 Telugu films were made in the first five years after the release of Bhakta Prahlada.
The longtime Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. T. Rama Rao, was an alumnus of Tollywood.

External links