HYDERABAD: Akhil, the scion of the Akkineni family has tasted setbacks at the ticket window and one can't help but question his marketability. Ever since his debut, he has been witnessing a deluge of criticism and has been struggling to measure up to expectations. “Akhil is a decent actor and is improving with his every film. He is getting acceptance from the audience, but he desperately needs a career-defining hit. He was blamed for the failure of his debut film, Akhil and the reactions on social media made things hard for him. It is the curse of being a star kid coming from a great lineage of Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who is admired by millions for his illustrious career and achievements,” says a seasoned writer, on condition of anonymity.
Akhil agrees that it takes some time to get acceptance of the audience. “I don’t know whether it was my fault or someone’s, but I was upset that my first film, Akhil was a disaster. Maybe due to exceeding expectations or the pressure of being an actor coming from a family of stars, things didn’t work for me. Had my second film, Hello would have been my debut film, the numbers would have been different,” rues Akhil.
The young actor is content with the response to his latest outing Mr Majnu. “I have been to several theatres and was happy to see the audience enjoying the film. The feedback is overwhelming and my dream to do a family entertainer has been fulfilled. I tried to do something different and I think, it has paid off,” explains Akhil in one of his earlier interviews with Cinema Express.
Not far behind is Niharika Konidela, an enthusiastic actor whose lineage extends to her paternal uncle and Telugu film industry’s numero uno star Chiranjeevi. Whether it’s due to non-acceptance from fans or due to a questionable choice in picking scripts, she is not at the top of her game.
“Tollywood stars enjoy a huge fan following and they consider fans as an extended family. Actor Krishna has revealed that his daughter, Manjula Ghattamaneni gave up her acting dreams owing to staunch opposition from his fans. It takes some time to win the trust of the audience and Niharika has been trying hard to prove her mettle as an actor. So, no harm in giving her some breathing space,” says a producer, who is known for making acclaimed youthful entertainers.
Before her, Allu Sirish, son of producer Allu Aravind and younger brother of actor Allu Arjun, has faced criticism from his talent to his looks. Then there’s Raja Goutham, whose lineage extends to his father and renowned comedian Brahmanandam. He came back with Manu, a crowd-funded independent project, after four years. The film was a debacle and brought a lot of criticism for Goutham. And the kind of films actor Sumanth Ashwin, son of producer MS Raju, has worked so far did not take his career graph anywhere but lower.
The writer says an actor feels pressure when a film fails. But one cannot write off him/her due to such debacles. “There were several superstars who didn’t deliver a hit for a decade. After hat trick hits, actor Sai Dharam Tej is reeling under failures now. These young actors are trying to make it clear that they are not after stardom, but a variety of roles. So we should encourage them to inspire many others to come forward, as one good success can boost their confidence,” he observes.
He asserts that talent alone is not enough for these youngsters to thrive in the industry. “They need a lot of support and they need to understand that this job comes with a lot of expectations,” he adds and maintains that he sees a healthy change in audience taste. “Movie-going has changed and the life of an average film is hardly a week, during which a major chunk of revenue will be generated. The success of Vijay Deverakonda’s Arjun Reddy, Geetha Govindam, Ram Charan’s Rangasthalam, RX 100 act as a testament to audiences’ changing tastes. The younger lot should analyse the market and the trend to have longevity,” he says.
A director, known for introducing fresh talent in the industry, explains that the actors and the filmmakers should realise the need to make a film on a specific budget. “Akhil’s Mr Majnu and Brahmanandam’s son’s last outings sank without a trace at the box office. The numbers were completely shocking. If you want to yield profits, ideally, you should make it on a reasonable budget and sell at a marginal profit. If the film does well, it will not only be profitable but also increases the market value of that actor,” says the director.