It has been a pretty bad week for some Tollywood filmmakers. After 'Care of Kancharapalem' director Venkatesh Maha made pretentious and unceremonious comments against 'KGF' on journalist Prema's show, he had to apologize for using the term 'Neech Kameen Kutte' to describe Yash's character in the film. Not just him, but his fellow panelists (especially, Nandini Reddy and Vivek Athreya) too had to issue an apology.
Come to think of it, why did Tollywood filmmakers rush to say sorry openly when comments were made against a Kannada film? A reason could be that they see some potential damage to their careers.
Last year, Hombale Films, which produced the 'KGF' films and 'Kantara', revealed that it plans to invest Rs 3,000 Cr in the next five years. Each year, at least five films will be made in different languages. Producer Vijay Kiragandur intends to produce movies in all major South Indian languages.
It is very much possible that directors like Vivek Athreya are fancying their chances for a collaboration with Hombale Films for a small or medium film. And they deserve to be in contention as well. Athreya is definitely a worthy talent without a doubt.
Mohankrishna Indraganti, who too was on the controversial roundtable recently, is already doing a big-scale movie under Dil Raju's production. If that film becomes a hit, Hombale Films might approach him. Nandini Reddy can return to form with Santosh Shoban's 'Anni Manchi Shakunamule', which is backed by 'Sita Ramam' makers.
It's good that our directors have apologized for the excesses committed at the roundtable. Hombale Films, one hopes, doesn't mind their one-off mistake.
