Telugu Cinema Retro Series-1987
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1987 saw two very siginificant events, one in cricket and another related to TV. India and Pakistan jointly hosted the World Cup cricket this year, the first time outside England, that marked BCCI's growing power. It also marked the change from 60 overs to 50 overs, that became the standard for ODIs. There is an interesting backstory, about how the then BCCI President NKP Salve, was denied extra tickets by ECB to watch the 1983 Final at Lords that made him come up with this idea. The World Cup proved to be a massive success, though both the hosts were knocked out in the semi finals, and it was an underdog Australia led by Allan Border that ended up winning it.
If you are interested in knowing more you can check out the following links.
https://www.sportsbignews.com/cricket/how-did-india-get-the-chance-to-host-the-world-cup-in-1987/
The other big phenomenon of the year was not a movie, it was a TV serial. To call Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan a success would be an understatement.
It was a phenomenon like never before, families flocked around TV sets to watch it every Sunday at 9 AM. Roads became deserted, people began to schedule their meetings or visits based on this. There were cases of families doing Puja to the TV, just before the serial started. People who could not understand even one word of Hindi,watched every episode end to end, of course helped by some family members who translated it. Arun Govil and Deepika, till then small time movie stars, became a household name, to the extent they were identified with Rama and Seeta. For the first time, TV emerged as an alternative to cinema, in a big way, giving a new lease of life to many aspiring artistes.
The same year, Doordarshan Telugu programs began to be telecast all over Andhra Pradesh, till then it was restricted primarily to Hyderabad. Audiences could watch old Telugu movies, never mind the fact that they mostly showed rather random movies, Chitralahari for Telugu songs, and Telugu serials too. This in turn would see the rise of many talented actors as well as directors like Brahmanandam, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam. Basically Sundays was like Ramayan in the morning, Telugu movie in the evening, people honestly did not care which movie that was, they just watched it.
Even though cinema had to compete with TV and cricket, it was quite a good year for Telugu cinema, as many movies went on to become a success. The best part was that audiences did not care about star factor much, only the content mattered.
Pasivadi Praanam turned out to be one of the biggest hits in Chiru's career after Khaidi. It actually was more an emotional role for Chiru, the main focus being the bonding he has with the small kid, a witness to a murder. Audiences loved the emotional part, a good soundtrack by Chakravarthy and the performance of the small kind, played by Baby Sujitha, who later went on to become a succesful actress in TV.
It was one of Chiru's best years, as he showcased his acting skills in Swayamkrushi, which also went on to become a success, and hits like Donga Mogudu, though he had his share of flops too like Chakravarthy and Jebu Donga.
Balayya continued his successful combo with Kodi Ramakrishna, as their Muvva Gopaladu, emerged as one of the biggest hits this year. He also had other successes like Bhargava Ramudu, Inspector Pratap, President Gari Abbai.
Nag came into his own this year, his Majnu a modern day Devadas version, was a huge success. He however was more successful as an action hero though, with hits like Collector Gari Abbayi and Kirayi Dada, which would define his career too. The much anticipated Agni Putrudu with K.Raghavendra Rao however turned out to be a disaster.
After a great debut in 1986, Venky did not have a great first half this year with a series of flops in Vijetha Vikram,Trimurthulu, Ajeyudu, Bharathamlo Arjunudu. He however had a success in the later half with Srinivasa Kalyanam ending the year on a good note.
Krishna consistently maintained his success rate with movies like Muddayi, Makutam Leni Maharaju, while ANR was making his own impact as a character actor in movies like Collector Gari Abbayi, Aatma Bandhavulu. Sobhan Babu and Krishnam Raju on the other had a rather mediocre year, with no really worthwhile movies.
Rajendra Prasad came up with another massive success after Ladies Tailor with Aha Naa Pellanta, that firmly established himself as a leading actor. The movie and it's dialogues have become an integral part of Telugu pop culture, memes. Terrific performances by Rajendra Prasad, Kota, Nutan Prasad made it memorable. And it also marked the emergence of Brahmanandam as a lead comedian, though he had appeared in smaller roles in Pasivadi Praanam and Swayam Krushi, his role as Govindu, got him noticed big time.
Rajendra Prasad also had other successes like Bhale Mogudu, Naaku Pellam Kavali, Gandhinagar Renduva Veedhi, Dabbevariki Chedu, as he soon became a favorite with the youth, and college students.
Samsaram Oka Chadarangam a remake of Visu's Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, went on to become a huge success with the family audiences, and it remains even now. Great performances by Gollapudi and Suhasini, as well as Shavukaru Janaki, Nutan Prasad, and the emotional scenes in this movie made it a favorite with the audiences, who repeatedly watched it.
Padamati Sandhya Raagam, the first Telugu movie to be shot entirely in US, and a cast made up primarily of Telugu NRIs, with only one known face Vijayashanti was one of the year's success stories. Audiences took to this love story between a Telugu ammayi and an American guy, as the simple, feel good narrative, touched a chord. The movie to date is quite popular.
Fun Fact: Thomas Jane who acted as the lead in this movie, would appear later in movies like Legends of the Fall, the horror movie The Mist, Boogie Nights.
Sruthilayalu was another success for Vishwanath this year, about a group of 3 talented musicians, who give up on their art, once they attain success. Though it had great performances by Dr.Rajshekhar, Sumalatha, Satyanarayana, it was the young Shanmukha Srinivas who stole the show with his dancing, and cute expressions. He later appeared in the ETV series Anvesitha too.
Dr.Rajshekhar too established himself well as a second level hero, with movies like Sruthilayalu, Ahuti( a rehash of Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels), Station Master.
Mouna Ragam, the dubbed Telugu version of Mani Ratnam's movie of the same name in Tamil, was a huge success. The movie was released only in morning shows, and attracted audiences in large numbers with it's cinematography, a brilliant soundtrack by Illayaraja, and great performances by Revathi, Mohan and Karthik. Women audiences especially loved this and it remains among Mani's best movies to date.
The other dubbed movie that attracted audiences was Nayakudu( Nayagan in Tamil), a movie that remains a classic to date, and one of the best gangster movies made in Indian cinema. Kamal deservedly won a National Award for his role as Velu Naidu, a youth from Dharavi who goes on to become one of the top Dons in Mumbai. Just watch out for the scene, where he breaks down on seeing his son's burnt dead body, master class in acting. The movie was a collaboration of 4 great talents- Mani Ratnam, Kamal, P.C.Sriram, Illayaraja and no wonder it turned out to be a masterpiece.
Pushpak Vimanam was an experiment, a silent movie in the age of talkies, that went on to become another success. The Kamal-Singeetham combo delivered another great movie. It was one of Kamal's best years too.
1987 proved to be one of the best years in Telugu cinema, just look at the lineup- Aha Naa Pellanta, Sruthilayalu, Swayamkrushi, Pasivadi Praanam, Mouna Raagam, Pushpak, Padamati Sandhya Raagam and Nayakudu. Movies that have stood the test of time and loved by audiences even now. Nowadays every half decent movie is acclaimed as a classic, but these movies that are still loved by audiences, spanning over decades, are what count as classic.
Also inspite of the competition cinema had from TV and cricket, it still managed to draw audiences, if the content was good enough. Maybe something to ponder on for current movie makers, who blame just about everything for their movie's failure.