Why Are Telugu Directors Failing to Handle Female-Oriented Films?

Female-oriented films once had a loyal audience in Telugu cinema, not very long ago. Right from Vijayashanti to Anushka, many heroines pulled off massive blockbusters at the box office with their female-oriented films. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore, as suggested by the box-office trends of two recently released female-oriented films, 8 Vasanthalu and Paradha. Going by their business trends, a section of people on social media opined that female-oriented films have already faded in TFI.

Directed by Phanindra Narsetti, 8 Vasanthalu was released on June 20, clashing with Kuberaa. Despite being bankrolled by Mythri Movie Makers, the film failed to generate buzz among the audience before the release. As a result, it ended up as a box-office failure. The other day, Anupama Parameswaran-starrer Paradha hit the screen. Leave about the film’s content, but the first day collections suggest that many people haven’t even shown up in theatres to watch the movie.

We can’t just say that people aren’t interested in female-oriented flicks anymore. These days, audiences don’t care about the star cast, but they have certain parameters which make them go to theatres. They go to theatres to watch films which have a big star as the lead hero, or were made on a big budget, or garnered a unanimous positive talk despite having a relatively small star cast and were made on a smaller budget.

Tollywood is failing to make such small-budget gems in recent days. Except for the likes of a Balagam or a Court, we don’t have any small film that was unanimously lauded by the audience. If a female-oriented film comes with such concepts, people will definitely lap them up. People opined that 8 Vasanthalu and Paradha are good to watch on OTT but lacked a unique factor that can draw audiences to theatres.

We have Rashmika Mandanna’s “Girlfriend” releasing soon and it remains to be seen if it breaks the jinx and brings back the glory of female-oriented flicks in Telugu cinema.