Telugu Cinema Retro 2000

https://www.reddit.com/r/tollywood/comments/zknphi/telugu_cinema_retro_series2000/

2000 was the year when the Net took off big time in India, while there was the ultra slow BSNL Dial Up connection, the mushrooming of cybercafes in most Indian cities, allowed many to connect to the Net and browse. You could send emails, chat, browse sites, listen to music, apply for jobs, the Net opened up so many possibilities. You could also post your own content, and get your voice heard, unlike before where the only way was writing letters to the Editor and then waiting for response.

It was the year 3 new states were created, changing the Indian map, Chattisgarh a predominantly tribal state carved out of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand another tribal state, separated from Bihar, while the hilly regions of Uttar Pradesh formed the state of Uttaranchal, with their capitals at Raipur, Ranchi and Dehradun respectively.

Reel life met real life in a rather bizzare way, when Dr. Rajkumar, one of the greatest stars of Kannada cinema was kidnapped by the bandit Veerappan, leading to riots in Bangalore, by his fans, the two CMs of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu negotiating with the bandit, and his sudden release in mid-November, creating a whole lot of drama.

Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza would win the Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific in the year, and all 3 of them would go on to have a succesful career in Bollywood later.

After a series of flops and the bankruptcy of ABCL, Amitabh Bachan made a comeback in style with Kaun Banega Crorepati, a desi version of the American TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, that proved to be a massive success, leading to similiar shows in all other Indian languages.

Indian cricket was hit by a series of match fixing scandals, that saw the end of the careers of Md.Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar, Nayan Mongia and Ajay Jadeja, and preceeded by the rout Down Under, would prove to be one of the worst ever moments. It proved to be a blessing in disguise though, with Saurav "Dada" Ganguly appointed as the captain, who would build up a strong Team India, bring in young talents like Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh leading to one of the best phases ever.

Kodanda Ramudu starring J.D.Chakravarthy, Rambha and Laya was widely publicized as the first Telugu movie of the 21st century and millenium. However this S.V.Krishna Reddy flick did not attract audiences much for all the hype, and ended up a flop.

Chiru's Annayya went on to become the first big hit of 2000, a good mix of sentiment and comedy, with Chiru playing the doting elder brother to Raviteja and Venkat. Chiru's performance, his combination with Soundarya, some good songs made this a good entertainer to watch.

Kalisundam Raa won the Sankranthi race hands down, going on to become the biggest hit of the year. The family drama featuring Venky and K.Viswanath as his grandfather with whom he tries to reconnect, had shades of a whole lot of earlier movies like Sitaramayya Gari Manavarulu. The movie once again established Venky as the favorite of the family audiences. His other movie Jayam Manade Raa, featuring him in a dual role, as a village head and his son, in a faction story, also proved to be a success making it his year.

Balayya however did not have a great year with both Vamsodharakudu, and Goppinti Alludu( remake of Govinda starrer Hero No 1), flopping.

After a series of flops, Nag once again came back with a series of hits, Nuvvu Vastavani a remake of the Tamil movie Thullada Manum Thullum, went on to become a success, with it's sentiment drama, some good songs. Azad directed by Thirupathi Swamy who had earlier directed Ganesh too did well, with it's terrorism backdrop, while Ninne Premistha, a remake of another Tamil movie Nee Varuvai Enna, where he had an important role, also went on to become a success.

Srikanth had a good year beginning with the comedy Kshemamga Velli Laabamgaa Randi a remake of Tamil movie Viralukketha Veekkam turning out to be a hit, following it up with Chala Bagundi, Ammo Okato Thaareku, which had a decent run.

Pawan Kalyan continued his success run with Badri, a love triangle featuring Ameesha Patel and his wife to be Renu Desai, that was a hit primarily with the youth and due to it's peppy soundtrack. It also marked the debut of Puri Jagannadh as a director.

Mahesh Babu after a succesful debut, however did not have a great year, with both Yuvaraju, a rehash of the Salman starrer Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai and the much anticipated Vamsi where he co starred with his wife to be Namrata Shirodkar not doing well.

Manoharam a story of an innocent man accused wrongly of being a terrorist, starring Jagapathi Babu and Laya, did quite well, one of his good performances. His other movie Sardukupodam Randi a 7 year old itch kinda story, directed by S.V.Krishna Reddy too did well.

Mohan Babu had a forgettable year with Postman ending up a disaster and Rayalaseema Ramanna Choudhary doing ok, though his performance was praised.

Usha Kiran movies had a great year with two of their small movies, going on to become massive hits, as well as introducing new talents.

Chitram a tale of teenage love was quite bold for it's times, showcasing pre marital sex, teen pregnancy and the movie was a huge hit with the youth. With a completely new cast of Uday Kiran and Reema Sen, as well as the debut of director Teja, the movie broke records. It also gave R.P.Patnaik a break as music director, after his debut Nee Kosam had flopped.

The other big success from the banner was Nuvve Kavali, introducing Tarun as a hero, he had earlier acted as a child artiste, and the cute Richa Pallod. The feel good romance hit it off well with the youth and family audience, as the movie went on to become one of the year's biggest hits. It also introduced Sai Kiran, son of singer Ramakrishna as a hero, and Sunil as a comedian. After Swayamvaram, this was the next big success for the director-writer duo of K.Vijayabhaskar and Trivikram.

Trivikram had another success as a writer with Chirunavvutho starring Venu, released in November, starring Venu, that went on to become a sleeper hit. Excellent writing, a superb mix of comedy and drama, good performance by Venu, all went on to make this movie a success, that continues to be popular to date.

Sakhi the dubbing version of Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey an urban romance that marked the debut of Madhavan as a hero, and Shalini, was a success, with it's soundtrack by A.R.Rehman proving to be widely popular. Madhavan went on to become a successful star both in Tamil cinema and later in Bollywood, while Mani came back after a series of flops.

2000 was the year of transition, a year when many new talents were introduced to Telugu cinema, some of whom would make a strong impact. It was the year younger heroes made their mark, and the senior heroes managed to hold on too well.