The Telangana narrative

[snoww]

The Telangana flavour has been on the rise in Telugu cinema in recent years. Will Falaknuma Das and Mallesham drive this further?

Earlier this week, the team of Falaknuma Das, which will release shortly, held a test screening. This screening saw a mixed audience — people with their roots in different regions of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema. The intent was to gauge if they warm up to a film that has a Telangana flavour.

Falaknuma Das, directed by and starring Vishwak Sen, is a Telugu adaptation of the Malayalam hit Angamaly Diaries. While the essence of the story remains the same, the film has been tweaked to the Telugu context. Director Tharun Bhascker, who is one of the principal actors in the film, is happy with the response to the test screening and feels that a well-made film representing a subculture can appeal to a wide audience.

The forerunners

The steady rise in representation of Telangana dialect in Telugu cinema is a recent phenomenon. The markers of change were visible during the Telangana agitation that led to the State formation in 2014. After the State bifurcation, superhits such as Tharun Bhascker’s Pelli Choopulu and Sekhar Kammula’s Fidaa brought the Telangana dialect to the mainstream. In the former, the show stealer was Priyadarshi Pulikonda with his comic lines in Telangana dialect. A large portion of Fidaa unfolded in rural Telangana and speaking the native dialect was Sai Pallavi. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Arjun Reddy followed, with Vijay Deverakonda speaking in his casual Hyderabadi-Telangana accent.

Newer films are set to push the boundaries, presenting stories from the interiors of the State. Mallesham, starring Priyadarshi and directed by Raj, is a biopic of Padma Shri awardee Chintakindi Mallesham who invented the ‘Asu machine’ that simplifies the processing of silk yarn for ikat weavers. Another film in production is Dorasani, set in the 1980s. Executive producer Venkat Siddareddy reveals that it will be a tragic romance set in a fictitious town in rural Telangana. Venkat, who is also an executive producer of Mallesham, attributes the change in Telugu cinema to two reasons — State bifurcation and the evolution of Telugu cinema with the audience rooting for diverse content.

Staying neutral

For a long time, Telugu filmmakers stuck to a ‘neutral’ or Vijayawada-Guntur dialect to make their films appeal to viewers across Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema. Occasionally, characters would speak in East Godavari, West Godavari or Rayalaseema dialects. A few actors, the late Srihari and ‘Telangana’ Shakuntala for instance, were known for their Telangana accent. But the neutral accent ruled Telugu cinema. It’s still the staple, but the bandwidth for the expression of other subcultures has grown. Steering away from the norm was also director Venkatesh Maha’s Care of Kancharapalem, presenting the ethos of Vizag beyond its picture-perfect seafronts. “In the last decade, our cinema has gone through a change. Filmmakers want to create better content, and the audience is welcoming of native stories,” reasons Venkat.

[snoww]

 

Quote

 

Staying neutral

For a long time, Telugu filmmakers stuck to a ‘neutral’ or Vijayawada-Guntur dialect to make their films appeal to viewers across Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema. Occasionally, characters would speak in East Godavari, West Godavari or Rayalaseema dialects. A few actors, the late Srihari and ‘Telangana’ Shakuntala for instance, were known for their Telangana accent. But the neutral accent ruled Telugu cinema.

 

thokkesaru for decades telangana dialect ni movies lo 'mana' vallu.

Slipper shot to all of them. 

[BDurruti]

it was inevitable.

[BDurruti]

10 minutes ago, snoww said:

 

thokkesaru for decades telangana dialect ni movies lo 'mana' vallu.

Slipper shot to all of them. 

you have problem with neutral accent? its fine kadha.

TG accent ki thokkadam oka vaipu, but are you asking for TG accent to dominate cultural sphere? ala chesthey em difference?

neutral accent aithey maa lanti outsiders ki kooda artham avthadi konni.

Hindi lo anni accents undi, oka neutral vaaduthunnattu. idhi kooda. lite.

[BDurruti]

may be TG accent makes a better neutral accent. i don't know. nenu out.

telugu maatladey tollu kottukondi.

[snoww]

5 minutes ago, BDurruti said:

you have problem with neutral accent? its fine kadha.

TG accent ki thokkadam oka vaipu, but are you asking for TG accent to dominate cultural sphere? ala chesthey em difference?

neutral accent aithey maa lanti outsiders ki kooda artham avthadi konni.

Hindi lo anni accents undi, oka neutral vaaduthunnattu. idhi kooda. lite.

I am not asking for TG accent to be dominant in movies. It should be what ever the script relates to. that was not done for decades. 

Surprisingly villains and comedians still used to speak TG accent while others were not in the same movie. 

[BDurruti]

3 minutes ago, snoww said:

I am not asking for TG accent to be dominant in movies. It should be what ever the script relates to. that was not done for decades. 

Surprisingly villains and comedians still used to speak TG accent while others were not in the same movie. 

yes. TG ni chinna choopu choosaaru anedhi naa lanti outsider kay ekkuva obvious ga anipinchindi.

but things changed now. its awesome.

now I expect TG makers to bring more stories from rural TG, and show bare their feudalism/casteism. next step adhi.

Andhra laaga, rayalaseema lo guest ki maryadalu istham, godavari lo premalu panchuthaam ani sollu cinemalu teeyakunda, I expect TG makers to be move away from urban and be more self reflective.

[BDurruti]

appudu eppudo 'maa bhoomi' ani cinema ni teesari, peasant revolution in TG meedha. daanni beat chesey cinema osthey cheppu, choostha.

arjun reddy naaku oddu

[Android_Halwa]

For decades, TG slang has been mainly portrayed by bad villains and adapted as a comedy slang, infact until pelli choopulu, TG slang was used by comedians which was nothing less than derogatory 

Pelli Choopulu and Fida has changed the way people make movies and use of dialects. 

There has been a section of movie makers who coincidently dominated by one caste has helmed the industry with their bonafide dramas. It’s not the case anymore and since 2014, new movie makers with different subjects are coming up ...

Some rightly said ‘Slipper shot’

[Android_Halwa]

2 minutes ago, BDurruti said:

appudu eppudo 'maa bhoomi' ani cinema ni teesari, peasant revolution in TG meedha. daanni beat chesey cinema osthey cheppu, choostha.

arjun reddy naaku oddu

That would make a great movie...

Peasent uprising has been major part of modern history of the region, somehow never been on the forefront. 

 

[BDurruti]

1 minute ago, Android_Halwa said:

For decades, TG slang has been mainly portrayed by bad villains and adapted as a comedy slang, infact until pelli choopulu, TG slang was used by comedians which was nothing less than derogatory 

Pelli Choopulu and Fida has changed the way people make movies and use of dialects. 

There has been a section of movie makers who coincidently dominated by one caste has helmed the industry with their bonafide dramas. It’s not the case anymore and since 2014, new movie makers with different subjects are coming up ...

Some rightly said ‘Slipper shot’

baa, I agree. but isn't this like a dead horse that has been beaten?

even I've made threads in 2013 predicting rise of more urban movies based in Hyd. I predicted raw movies like 'Hyderabad nawabs', but more on theculture portrayed in 'hyderabad blues'.

directors from rural AP have absolutely killed the industry with silly movies, and that TG makers will infuse telugu industry with fresh ideas.

Now I want TG rural directors to take the center stage. how soon do you think it will happen?

[BDurruti]

6 minutes ago, Android_Halwa said:

For decades, TG slang has been mainly portrayed by bad villains and adapted as a comedy slang, infact until pelli choopulu, TG slang was used by comedians which was nothing less than derogatory 

Pelli Choopulu and Fida has changed the way people make movies and use of dialects. 

There has been a section of movie makers who coincidently dominated by one caste has helmed the industry with their bonafide dramas. It’s not the case anymore and since 2014, new movie makers with different subjects are coming up ...

Some rightly said ‘Slipper shot’

we still want movies focusin on urban poor.

andala rakshasi movie - even though idiotic, has wonderful sequences where the 2nd hero moves around in hyd slums.

and aa krish movie with allu arjun undey kadha.. they tried a little bit there, but its again an overrated movie.

pure out and out hyd slums lo base chesi oka movie teeyali thondaraga.

it'll mean hyd industry is not dominated by the upper/middle class, but also people who came up the hard way, and have some interesting story to tell about their surroundings, and the way they grew up.

[snoww]

9 minutes ago, Android_Halwa said:

That would make a great movie...

Peasent uprising has been major part of modern history of the region, somehow never been on the forefront. 

 

Not just in movies , Even the school text books ignored TG history

[BDurruti]

Just now, ammu_paalu said:

We want movies for entertainment

who said movies based around slums are not entertaining?

if you have enough writers who grew up there, you'll get great stories from there.

entertainment antey, what do you mean? are you against urban poor writing/directing in movies? do you want only stories where hero is either a kind billionaire, or a egomaniac? lol.

[BDurruti]

1 minute ago, ammu_paalu said:

Dirty slums

Dirty people

No entertainment 

Only kastalu

you lack imagination. the writers don't.

so you shut your holes and watch it when the super movie comes out. I'll wait for it.