Producer Y Ravi Shankar shared an insight into the mindset of the Kerala film industry through a conversation with Fahadh Faasil. Speaking at an event on Monday, he noted that the Mollywood actor recently told him, "In the Kerala film industry, we think about how to make Baahubali kinda revenue film with a Rs 20 crore budget."
This remark by FaFa reflects the unique ambition of Malayalam cinema. Their actors and directors want to achieve massive commercial success and high-quality production value through resourcefulness, novel storytelling and creative efficiency rather than star charisma and exorbitant spending.
Since Ravi Shankar is currently producing big-scale movies like Prabhas' Fauzi and Jr NTR's Dragon, his words must be taken seriously. Are more and more Telugu producers increasingly becoming impatient with the gallopping production costs in the Telugu film industry?
Just a few years ago, these very producers would have us believe that everything about Tollywood was awesome. And now, with Malayalam movies such as Lokah, Premalu, Manjummel Boys, and Vaazha II giving mind-boggling returns on modest investments, Tollywood producers, too, want to taste that kind of success.
