ANOTHER ANGLE Tollywood is still coming to terms with the death of actor Uday Kiran. But even as tributes are pouring in, underneath the pall of grief, uncomfortable questions are being asked. A section of film buffs and fans, have been saying that a few ‘forces’ in Tollywood are responsible for not only ending Uday Kiran’s career, but also pushing him to the brink. While the police question late actor Uday Kiran's wife Vishitha, and others as part of the probe into his alleged suicide, newer reports suggest another possible angle.
While Arun Kumar has approached the State Human Rights Commission seeking a probe into Uday’s death, alleging that ‘four big Tollywood camps’ kept Uday out of work, filmmaker Dasari Narayan Rao minced no words as he lay the blame flatly at the door of the ‘big four’. “There are a few who sabotaged Uday’s career and stopped him from getting good projects. As a result, he went into depression. He tried getting back on track, but couldn’t,” said Dasari to the media.
‘Big Four’ is the moniker now given to the four main camps that weild all the power in Tollywood — namely the Chiranjeevi family, Daggubati family, NTR family and Dil Raju camp.
High Court advocate PN Arun Kumar, who pleaded to the Human Rights Commission for a probe into the role of ‘big four’ in Uday Kiran’s suicide, says, “These four groups are responsible for malpractice in Tollywood.” And what makes him reach this conclusion? “Well, over 400 theatres in AP are under Suresh Babu Productions.
As such, they have monopoly over film distribution. They ensure that no emerging actor gains a foothold in the industry. If they do, they are destroyed. That’s what happened with Uday Kiran,” he alleges.
According to Arun, the ‘big four’ also “decide the release dates of all films, and ensure only actors/films from their group get maximum theatres. This monopoly is affecting emerging actors.”
Arun did not receive a positive response from the commission, but he is in no mood to give up. “I am now going to approach the State Minister for Information and Public Relations, DK Aruna,” he says.
Is it innuendo or a fact that the ‘big four’ can make or mar filmi career? The film cycle has four elements: finance, casting, production and distribution. The ‘big four’ families are blamed for having a vice-like grip in all these four processes. The ‘big four’ have stars in the family, they finance the movies, they produce the movies and they also have a mafia-like grip on distribution. Industry sources say that there are about 1475 active screens in Andhra Pradesh. Out of these, nearly 1,000 are controlled by just two families.
“The door of success can be slammed shut by these ‘big four’ and very quickly at that. It was on July 2, 2003 that Chiranjeevi family issued a statement about calling off the wedding of Uday Kiran and Sushmita. On that day, Uday Kiran was shooting for an untitled Suresh Productions movie at Ramanaidu Studios (not Neeku Nenu Naaku Nuvvu). Not surprisingly, the movie never got completed,” says a source, on condition of anonymity.
But, if the monopoly is so powerful wouldn’t all the members of the ‘big four’ family — be it Rana Daggubati or Taraka Ratna or Kalyan Ram be superstars? “Well, the truth is that despite the flops or the tepid response these guys receive, they will always have movies and producers. They get multiple chances, while an ‘outsider’ gets kicked out eventually.”
Tollywood isn’t without its dash of caste politics. The fans are divided on those lines, the film mandarins more so. Would it help you if you belong to one or the other community, we ask a director. “It would help as it opens many doors. It helps in networking. Even if one of my movies fail, I may get an opportunity again if I hail from one of the two reigning communities in Telugu film industry,” he said.
The ‘big four’ meanwhile are appalled at the allegations thrown their way. “No one can make or break anyone’s career. Personally, we have nothing to do with Uday Kiran’s career skyrocketing or bombing,” says producer Suresh Babu of the Daggubati family. “Stardom is fickle, no one hands it to you on a platter. Everyone has to work hard for it. You have to be mentally strong to handle rejection and still keep working at reaching your goals,” explains Suresh Babu.
Tammareddy Bharadwaja too shares a similar opinion. “There are a few heroes who aren’t as popular as Uday was, yet they are doing movies and trying hard. It’s all about how well you can manage success and failure,” opines Bharadwaja.
However, the general perception that star kids get more opportunities to make it big, than ‘ordinary’ actors is dismissed as ‘mere talk’. “Why, even Nagarjuna and Venkatesh went through a phase where they suffered a spate of flops. In fact, a few of Venky’s films have been disasters! But they never gave up. Actor Gopichand was a star, till his career took a backseat. He re-invented himself by playing villain in films.
That gave him a new lease of life and today, he back to being a lead actor. Ditto with Nithiin, who suffered flops for 10 long years, till Ishq came along and today, he is successful. And if one accuses his father of making films for him, then it’s unfair. You are bound to invest in your family,” reasons Suresh Babu.
But the trend of blaming a select few for sabotaging the career of the late actor and driving him to suicide is termed ‘unfair’. “In fact, Uday’s last film Jai Sreeram was distributed by Multidimension Films, which is owned by a few from the so-called ‘big four’. The movie also saw a wide release, so how can you blame them?” asks Bharadwaja.
Sivaramkrishna Burugupalli, president of the Telugu Film Producers Council, calls the allegations “baseless”. “The industry is not run by a few individuals. Blaming Chiranjeevi, Suresh Babu or anyone else is unfair, because at the end of the day what matters is talent and perseverance,” says Sivaramkrishna.
With the allegations fanning the flames of controversy in Tollywood, Suresh Babu is of the view that “such petitions should be thrown out”. “Today, people have made it a habit to file petitions and PILs against members of the film industry and politicians because they know the media will pick it up. You’ll find people flocking to the home of the deceased to pay their ‘respects’ because they know the cameras are there.
But once the cameras are gone, they leave. Uday Kiran was suffering some serious psychiatric problems. If he had the right guidance, he could have done a lot than just ending his life. By making such allegations against people from the industry and filing petitions, one is only trivializing his death,” opines Suresh Babu.
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