April is the big month for Telugu cinema, after its grand opening of the year in Sankranthi. It will witness the release of the first ‘real’ biggie, a Pawan Kalyan starrer. But, it is coming with a clause, and incidentally, the same holds true for others. It is termed as ‘content film.
The phrase frequently used – ‘content film’ is a bit baffling for us. Does this mean the other films done by stars don’t have ‘content’ or do the commercial films, lacks ‘content’. We leave that to the readers’ pondering and coming to the point, the April releases are mostly narrative-driven and lack the ‘commercial’ aspects usually associated with big stars, i.e. they are not ‘star driven’.
Wild Dog starring Nagarjuna, arrives first. It is a no-nonsense action thriller. The focus of the narrative right from the start is on a mission the entire team is on. It belongs to the spy action genre and is a fresh offering in Telugu.
The second week will see Powerstar Pawan Kalyan return to the big screen after a three-year-long hiatus. However, he is also coming with a ‘narrative driven’ film Vakeel Saab. It has action scenes, but mostly it is an intense courtroom drama that is never before done by the star.
The third week will see the release of Love Story. It is Sekhar Kammula’s next after blockbuster Fidaa. It stars Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi in the lead. Although there are songs and dance sequences, the film’s appeal lies in its slice of life drama devoid of the routine clichés say, insiders.
Tuck Jagadish, featuring Nani, will be the first out and out commercial outing in April, and that too after a long gap. Post Krack for Sankranthi, there has been no mass fare. And it could work to Nani’s advantage.
And in the last week of April, we have Virata Parvam, another narrative-driven film with lots of emotional drama. There is a buzz that it could get postponed and Narappa come in its place. Even then, the focus would remain on ‘content’.
If you are a movie lover who loves to watch ‘content driven’ films more than ‘star-driven’ fares, well, there is a lot on the platter to savour in April.
