Highly Anticipated Movie Personalities To Watch Out For In 2017!

When a few names are associated with Telugu films, the expectations of those films soar high. Apart from the lead actors and directors of the highly successful Khaidi No. 150, Gautamiputra Satakarni, the much awaited Baahubali: The Conclusion, 2.0, Katamarayudu and Mahesh Babu – A R Murugadoss movie, here is a list of technicians, directors and actors whose work raises/raised such expectations: 1. He was the Visual Effects Supervisor for Baahubali: The Beginning, I-Manoharudu and Robo. Though Srinivas was replaced with Kamalakannan (VFX Supervisor for Eega and Magadheera) for Baahubali: The Conclusion due to Srinivas’ commitment for Shankar’s 2.0, he is still working on the virtual reality part. With the support of Rajamouli and Shankar, this year, he will be pushing the envelope with both the films in two different territories – Virtual Reality for Baahubali: The Conclusion and 3D for 2.0.

2. If you are a 90s kid, then two names are definitely on your favorite choreographers list: Prabhu Deva and Lawrence. Both of them have unique styles but have now turned to direction and have largely limited their choreography. Though we could see Prabhu Deva’s work in last year’s Abhinetri, it’s been quite some time since Lawrence worked for a straight Telugu film.

While the audience had sky high expectations for the first song of Chiranjeevi’s comeback, it also marked the comeback of Lawrence as a choreographer and their combo did not disappoint anyone. The simple yet effective signature step after the lyric “Raaye Raaye Rattaalu” showed us why the Chiranjeevi-Lawrence combo is always a hit. With Chiranjeevi getting ready with his next films, let us hope to see this combo more often. 3. The last time Harris Jayaraj did a straight Telugu film was Orange in 2010 and every song in that album was a blockbuster. While there is a jinx associated with his music for straight Telugu films, let us hope that he breaks it this year with Maheshbabu’s bilingual (MB23).

4. When a top director and top actor team up for a film, it has the inherent advantages of having some of the best technicians. With MB23, one of the best cinematographers of the country, Santosh Sivan, will finally be making his debut in Telugu. Remember the waterfalls and Aishwarya’s jump in Mani Ratnam’s Villain? Be it Murugadoss’ Thupaki or most of Mani Ratnam’s films in the 90s – Dalapathi, Roja, Iddaru, Dil Se..this man was behind the camera for all of them.

The picture below is a beautiful glimpse of what lies in store:

5. Tamil Heroes in Telugu Arjun: A generation of Telugu audience would remember this man as the one-day CM Purushottam. He will be seen in a negative role in Nithiin’s film with Hanu Raghavapudi. Though he was seen earlier in a Satanic role in Mani Ratnam’s Kadali, this time Arjun describes his role as a sophisticated, intelligent & crooked antagonist.

S J Surya: This director surprised Tamil audience last year with his performance in the film Iraivi. In Telugu, he was seen in a story changing minor cameo in his own Telugu directorial debut - Khushi. Now, he will be seen as the lead antagonist in MB23. S J Surya even left the direction of Katamrayudu (on good terms), for this role in MB23. Bharath: Another addition from MB23, he will also be seen in a negative role. Hope all the three of them make an impact like Arvind Swamy did last year. 6. Dubbed films

If you like love stories, then these two names will definitely feature in your favorite directors list. This year both of them planned to release their films during the Valentines weekend but the releases have now been delayed. Mani Ratnam’s Duet featuring Karthi will showcase the love story of a pilot. Gautham Menon’s Enai Noki Paayum Thota featuring Dhanush will be in Guy Ritchie style with lots of voice-over. Though this film is yet to be announced in Telugu, a Gautham Menon film is bound to be dubbed. Apart from this, Gautham Menon also has his most ambitious project – Dhruva Natchathiram with Vikram, which may hit the screens this year. Irrespective of how these films fare, make space in your phones for the albums of these films. 7. Creative directors

K. Raghavendra Rao: The legendary director will be back with Om Namo Venkatesaya after almost half a decade. Devotional films being one of his favorite genres, and with Nagarjuna in the role of Hathiram Bhavaji, this film will be special. Krishna Vamsi: After a gap of 4 years, he will be back with a young cast in Nakshatram. Sekhar Khammula: After his last attempt to change genre in 2014, he will be back with a sweet love story – Fidaa. 8. Dream Girls Sai Pallavi is finally appearing in a straight telugu film. This dancer-turned-actor-turned-doctor stole hearts all over with the role Malar in the Malayalam version of Premam. She was also the first choice for Mani Ratnam’s Duet. Now, with Sekhar Khammula directing Sai Pallavi, she is surely this year’s most anticipated debut heroine. Another heroine Ritika Singh, who has already won a National Award and a Filmfare for her debut, will be reprising her role in Guru. The very presence of Sai Pallavi and Ritika Singh will be breaking a hundred stereotypes associated with Telugu film heroines.

9. Read this only if you haven’t heard about Phanindra Narsetti. Independent films barely get any recognition in Telugu cinema. Off late, there has been a section of Telugu audience who have started yearning towards New Age Malayalam and Kannada movies. Now, this New Wave starts with film makers who dare to go against the norm. For example, Kannada industry witnessed the change when Pawan Kumar made an independent crowd funded film Lucia. Post Lucia, IT employees interested in films have shifted careers. 3 years after Lucia, Raam Reddy’s debut film Thithi was a talking point in all independent film circles last year, for having been recommended by biggies like Aamir Khan in Bollywood and Francis Ford Coppola in Hollywood.

Though it is too early to comment on the impact of Manu, Phanindra Narsetti is attempting to bring that change in Telugu cinema with his crowd funded film. He has already proven his writing, editing and direction skills with the short films Backspace and Madhuram. (Very few film makers like Rajkumar Hirani and Alphonse Puthren possess this rare ability to write, direct and edit) His call for crowd funding brought him the budget he needed, within four and a half days. Now, the first teaser of Manu has already raised the expectations all over. So, let’s wait for the film to release and do the rest of the talking. 10. 2016 was a proof for the fact that the next generation of film makers are shaping up from short films. This year, apart from Phanindra Narsetti, we have Sasi Kumar Mutthuluri (director of Indian Age 25) who will be announcing his feature film debut soon.

If there was one person who was not a part of Team Baahubali and yet had to wait for almost two and half years to start his next film, it should be Sujeeth. He was the first Telugu film maker to come from short films and he scored a hit (Run Raja Run) at the age of 24. He will finally start his second film this year with Prabhas. Hope his wait proves fruitful. P. S. According to the current line-up of RGV’s films, he will be missing from Tollywood this year but his tweets will definitely not leave Tollywood. Let’s wait for the third part of his most successful series – Sarkar. Also, do SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel to get more awesome video content delivered right into your inbox.