2007 to 2024 – Telugu Cinema Has Come a Long Way at the Goa Film Festival

‘I attended the Goa Film Festival recently and I was surprised to not find Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Gari’s picture and Akkineni Nageswara Rao Gari’s picture there in a photo gallery related to legendary Indian film personalities. We are not getting the recognition we deserve in Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, etc. Our film industry people are not getting enough respect when we attend events in Mumbai & Delhi’, said a very emotional Megastar Chiranjeevi during his speech at Telugu Cinema Vajrotsavam in 2007. 

Many legendary actors from the Telugu Film Industry like Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Garu, Akkineni Nageswara Rao Garu, S. V. Ranga Rao Garu, Ghattananeni Krishna Garu, Sobhan Babu Garu, etc. played so many memorable & iconic characters in many films over the years and they definitely deserve the respect from film industries across the country and their pictures should be displayed in every photo gallery related to ‘Prominent Indian Film Personalities’ across the globe. Every Telugu person across the globe felt the pain in Chiranjeevi’s words during his speech at Vajrotsavam and hoped for better respectable days in future for their matinee idols from the people outside of Andhra Pradesh (the State was not bifurcated back then). 

It’s been seventeen years since that emotional speech by Megastar Chiranjeevi and we now are living in an era where the entire country is looking up to the Telugu Film Industry. It all started in 2015 with ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’. S. S. Rajamouli, Prabhas and the team put their heart, blood and soul into the film for years, promoted it well and released it across multiple languages in India. The film went on to become a sensation. What followed with its sequel, ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ is truly a game-changing moment for the Telugu film industry. ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ went on to become an Industry hit in many Indian languages and became the biggest grosser of Indian cinema. Every film personality and film lover across the country started talking about the Telugu film industry since then and now we are a force to be reckoned with. 

The scale, span and budgets of our films since then took the world of cinema by surprise. RRR Movie with more than a thousand crores at the box office and an Oscar award-winning global sensational song ‘Naatu Naatu’, Allu Arjun’s national award with Pushpa: The Rise, Kalki 2898 AD with more than thousand crores at the box office and it’s out of the world experience, etc. turned the tables for Telugu cinema. Our actors and films now are getting the deserved respect not just in India but across the globe as well. Almost every actor & director & technician in 24 crafts across the country now wants to be a part of Telugu movies in some or the other way. Hyderabad has almost become the movie capital of India beating Mumbai. Most films across languages in India are getting their shoots done in Hyderabad. 

Right now, the 55th edition of ‘IFFI-Goa’ – International Film Festival of India is being taken place. It is the same festival Megastar Chiranjeevi talked about seventeen years ago. The tables are completely turned upside down now at the festival. Akkineni Nagarjuna, Rana Daggubati, Swapna Dutt, Priyanka Dutt, Teja Sajja and many others from the Telugu film industry attended the film festival at Goa this year. People are paying enough attention when our film personalities are talking at the festival and showering unconditional love. Huge idols of characters played by Prabhas in Baahubali and Adipurush were featured at a roadshow organised by the organisers of the film festival last evening in Goa. It is the first time ever a Telugu hero’s character idols are featured at the roadshow during the Goa film festival. 

Megastar Chiranjeevi must be a very happy man right now looking at all the recognition, applause and appreciation Telugu cinema getting across the country and internationally. Pushpa2: The Rule, Superstar Mahesh Babu and S S Rajamouli’s Globe-Trotting adventure film, Kalki 2898 AD’s sequel, They Call Him OG, Spirit, Jai Hanuman and many more interesting films are set to release in the next few years. All these films are sure to take the world of cinema by storm and will further strengthen the credibility of Telugu cinema and its personalities.