Tollywood’s 1000 Cr: SK’s Honest Opinion Differs from Murugadoss

Director AR Murugadoss was recently trolled brutally on social media by the Telugu audiences for his comments about how filmmakers in tollywood are cracking the 1000 Cr films.

Murugadoss shared his opinion that the 1000 Cr films are mostly entertainment oriented without any intention to educate the viewers, unlike the Tamil cinema. Murugadoss who is known for making commercial films made this statement which was not digestable to many.

“1000 Cr directors only entertain but the Tamil directors educate people. There is a big difference,” said Murugadoss, during the promotions of Madharaasi.

However, Siva Karthikeyan who is playing the lead in Madharaasi has a different view now. Although Murugadoss did not aim his remarks at Telugu cinema, many perceive it as his dig at Telugu cinema as Tollywood frequently touches the mark of 1000 Cr at the box office.

Last night, speaking at the pre-release event of Madharaasi in Hyderabad, Siva Karthikeyan expressed an opinion that he has for a long time. “If the producers believe in the content, they will not hesitate to spend on the project which is why I think they frequently collect 1000 Cr at the box office,” he said, while also appreciating producer NV Prasad who also spent a bomb on Madharaasi.

The difference of opinion between the hero and director is clearly visible. It is also clear that both the actor and director are on a different page. In fact, Murugadoss tried to tell that the filmmaker’s responsibility is also to educate the people and not solely entertain them. But the reality is that it is not mandatory that the directors must educate the viewers and everyone has their own style.

While Siva Kartikeyan’s statement resonates reality. The producers want returns and when they trust a project, they will go to any extent to expect desired monetory benifits at the box office. Ultimately, it is the success that sells in the film industry.

Filmmakers like Shankar and Mani Ratnam are struggling as they couldn’t fully catch the pulse of today’s generation. While filmmakers in other languages are reinventing themselves, the Tamil industry seems to be lagging. Even new-age director Lokesh Kanagaraj couldn’t meet expectations, with Coolie failing to click as much as he hoped and with the audience too.

With Madharaasi’s release scheduled on September 5th, a section of audiences are waiting to criticize ARM if the project goes any wrong. Murugadoss is also waiting to score a hit as he had back to back failures including Sikander in Hindi.