Rana Daggubati isn’t perturbed that most of Mumbai gets his name wrong. Interviewers often ask, “What’s your name again?” It is characteristic of a fantasy nation called Bollywood—in which a huge population of Indians live—littered with surnames like Kapoor, Johar, Khan and Roshan, Daggubati is a pebbles-in-the-mouth moniker.
The 27-year-old Rana takes it in his long-legged stride. For he is the son of South Indian film producer Daggubati Suresh Babu, the grandson of Daggubati Ramanaidu—the Guinness record holder for producing the highest number of films in the world: 160—and the nephew of actors Venkatesh and Nagarjuna.
His cousin is actor Naga Chaitanya. Other relatives include actors Sumanth and Sushanth.
Altogether the family’s net worth exceeds Rs 1,000 crore. Naga Chaitanya is the grandson of both legendary Telugu matinee idol Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Ramanaidu. Rao’s son, the hunky actor Nagarjuna, was once married to Daggubati Ramanaidu’s daughter Lakshmi and Naga Chaitanya is their son.
“People repose faith in a known face,” says Radhakrishna J, Telugu film director. “But if an outsider has talent, he can make a mark.” Ironically, in Bollywood it is Rana who is the outsider. But when he made passionate love to Bipasha Basu in ‘Dum Maro Dum’, an icon was born—of bearded machismo and brooding sexuality that has taken Bollywood by storm so much so that he even replaced Abhishek Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma’s upcoming movie ‘Department’.
Unlike Deccan heroines Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini, Jaya Prada and Sridevi, no South Indian male actor—except Rajinikanth in ‘Robot’— has made an impact in Bollywood; not even Rana’s uncle Venkatesh who played hero to another star child Karishma Kapoor in the 1993 flop ‘Anari’, produced by Ramanaidu. Kamal Haasan and Chiranjeevi are big names in the South but are Bollywood nobodies.
Usually, becoming a popular name in the South film industry only needs a popular surname. Barring Malayalam cinema, the top guns of the robust South Indian film industry—Telugu, Kannada and Tamil—are scions of legendary film families for the last two decades. “Dynasty rule is everywhere; in politics, business—so Tollywood is no exception,” says Radhakrishna. “All said and done, the film industry works on certain dynamics. Who will invest crores of rupees on a stranger?”
The 6-foot-3-inch tall Rana landed himself plum offers very early in his career in India’s two biggest film industries: Hindi and Telugu. He is the latest addition to the legion of stars that shine in South India today with borrowed halos. Rana’s uncle Victory Venkatesh charges about Rs 1.5 crore per movie, while his father and film producer Suresh Babu reportedly holds 170 of the state’s theatres on lease that fetch him each Rs 1.5 lakh a week. Rana’s family along with producer-distributors Allu Aravind and Dil Raju are said to own 90 per cent of the entire film business of Andhra Pradesh, from studios to theatres, and control around 40 per cent of the state’s movie theatres. This makes them the uncrowned kingmakers of Tollywood, because for a film to be successful, it will have to be screened in movie halls under their thumb. As Rana himself concedes, having Tollywood in his DNA is a blessing, though it also comes with the immense pressure to perform.
“Isn’t a politician’s son becoming a politician?” asks Allu Aravind. “Why blame us? At least in the film industry, we make films at our own cost. If the films flop, we bear the losses.”
Chiranjeevi’s son Ramcharan Teja and brother-in- law Aravind’s son Allu Arjun are budding stars. Teja charges around Rs 5 crore per film and Arjun Rs 3.5 crore. Compare this to established Bollywood actors: SRK charges Rs 12 crore while Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt are paid Rs 3-4 crore per movie.
Chiranjeevi has produced or distributed films— worth more than Rs 100 crore—under his banner Anjana Productions while Aravind has spent at least Rs 600 crore on production so far under Geeta Arts Production House he owns. At the peak of his career, Chiranjeevi is said to have earned a minimum of Rs 15 crore per movie in the form of remuneration or distribution rights.
Elsewhere, in film-crazy Tamil Nadu, the situation is no different. While the industry is saturated with star babies, until a fortnight ago Kollywood was firmly in the clutches of the M Karunanidhi family, which had fettered filmdom down by controlling distribution. Karunanidhi being a screen and dialogue writer in his own right, the first family’s involvement in the film industry was only expected.
Instead of maintaining harmony with the industry, the DMK chief’s family created a hegemony, with his huge clan slowly taking over film distribution and production through banners like Red Giant Movies (owned by M K Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin), Cloud Nine Movies (owned by Union Minister M K Alagiri’s son Durai Dayanidhi Alagiri), Sun Pictures (part of the Sun Network owned by Karunanidhi’s grandnephew Kalanithi Maran) and Mohana Movies
(owned by Karunanidhi’s son Tamilarasu).
In less than two years, the four houses became a monopoly, distributing 32 movies and producing 12.
“No other film industry has faced a problem like this,” says Keyaar, veteran film personality who was also the president of the South Indian Film Chamber. According to him, the source of funds of these companies is mysterious. He complains that the Big Four paid no heed to industry norms concerning remuneration and publicity, and destroyed the disciplined work ethic that Kollywood was famous for. “Cinema is a profession for us but for these people, it was only entertainment,” says Keyaar.
Adding to the chaos were the instructions from Karunanidhi himself, recommending theatres to screen movies written by him which ran empty houses. They also arm-twisted producers to sell films at lower rates.
A victim of Tamil cinema’s first family was the actor touted to be Tamil cinema’s next superstar Vijayakanth. Following the announcement of his political ambitions after a meeting with Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, the actor was seen as a potential political rival to the DMK. “The release of my films are being forcefully delayed in order to ensure a good film opening for those distributed by the state’s first family,” accuses the actor whose social outfit, Makkal Iyakkam, was the AIADMK’s ally in the last Assembly elections.
Of the top 10 Tamil grossers of the year so far, eight star heroes—including Vijay (‘Kaavalan’), Jiiva (‘Ko’ and ‘Singam Puli’), Simbhu (‘Vaanam’), Karthi (‘Siruthai’), Jayam Ravi (‘Engeyum Kaadhal’)—are born in second generation film families.
Fortune, however, has not favoured all star kids. Soundarya Rajinikanth’s debut direction venture ‘Sultan’ is stuck and her new production ‘Goa’ is not doing well. ‘Luck’, the debut Bollywood film of Shruti Haasan—the mighty Kamal Haasan’s daughter—with Imran Khan tanked.
In Karnataka, however, it pays to be a superstar’s kid—the living proof being Rajkumar’s sons and S V Rajendra Singh Babu’s family. The kin of Natasarvabhouma (Emperor of Acting) as Rajkumar is hailed, are the Kannada film industry’s leading lights.
Two of his sons, the affable Shivraj and the successful ‘Power Star’ Puneeth are Sandalwood’s leading stars who charge Rs 1 crore per film. Their brother Raghavendra is a big film producer and distributor. “They are known for humility and have no ego,” says actor-director Ramesh Aravind. They are also known in the industry for their financial clout with an estimated net worth of Rs 200 crore that includes homes, hotels, a production house and more.
Raghavendra is planning to introduce his son Vinay in Kannada films soon. The journey is not expected to be too rocky for Vinay, whose granddad’s clout promises packed theatres; like Suriya in Tamil cinema, who achieved quick fame as former matinee idol Sivakumar’s son, whose stellar looks Suriya has inherited. Vinay’s success, however, depends on his family’s support by continuing to produce films starring him until he becomes a bankable hero.
It is a well-charted route, and Vinay Raghavendra and every other star son in South India is confident that his surname will make success his middle name.
Prominent Star Families in Kollywood:
DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s grandnephew Kalanithi Maran who owns India’s biggest TV network Sun, along with Udhayanidhi and Durai —(sons of MK Stalin and MK Alagiri) managed to create a virtual monopoly in film distribution with 32 movies in three years.
Dad Sivakumar has acted in more than 200 Tamil films though he never reached the top slot. Older son Suriya is today widely rated as No. 3 among the young actors. Sivakumar’s other son Karthi debuted in the National Award-winning ‘Paruthiveeran’.
Rajinikanth is said to be the second highest paid actor in Asia, second only to Jackie Chan. His older daughter Aishwarya is married to actor Dhanush, while his other daughter Soundarya entered production and direction via Ocher Studios.
With inputs from G Babu Jayakumar in Chennai, Kalyan Toleti in Hyderabad and Y Maheswara Reddy in Bangalore.
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