Sometimes, one feels Tollywood is ages behind both Malayalam and Hindi film industries in terms of the themes it writes. Bollywood's multiplex movies with serious-minded themes have been extraordinary by any standard. And Malayalam cinema's penchant for boldness is well-known.
The latest Mallu film to make heads turn is Mollywood Times, starring Nelson of Premalu fame in the lead. The film, rather than romanticizing show business like traditional films about filmmaking, is explicitly marketed as a "hate letter to cinema." It serves as a cynical, realistic "warning manual" for aspiring filmmakers. It completely strips away the glamour of showbiz, choosing instead to focus on the toxic power politics, plagiarism, financial hurdles, and the dark underbelly of the Malayalam film industry.
Contrast this to a melodramatic charade like Andhra King Taluka, that normalized hero-worship without nuance. It was a problematic movie to the core, and yet the entire Tollywood media and a majority of the audience who watched it lapped it up as though it was message-oriented. If you seriously believe Ram Pothineni's character in the movie was sensible, just ask yourself this question: would you want such a risk-taking, hero-worshipping dud to be your brother or a friend?
The kind of speeches Tollywood film personalities make about the alleged greatness of the Telugu film industry at pre-release events is sentimental nonsense of the highest order. They make you feel that if you are not an spiring actor/director, you are missing something in life. They speak as though everyone is there to serve art and not make tons of money. They speak as though everyone has an equal opportunity regardless of their background. They speak as though the wages for cine workers are the best in the country, and every production house has a piece of Mother Teresa's spirit. They speak as though the scenes they write build the character of the audience.
Mollywood Times and Andhra King Taluka are a reminder that Mollywood and Tollywood are poles apart.
