Fresh Faces in T'town Industry

For filmmakers in Tollywood who don’t have unlimited budgets for their projects, signing up newcomers seems to be the obvious option. One thus sees a plethora of fresh faces in Tollywood these days and trade pundits and producers say that it is a good thing for the industry.

Be it Sneha Geetham, Young India, Thakita Thakita, Chapter-6 or the soon-to-be-started film on Telangana, selecting new talent through “auditions” is the in thing in Tollywood.

Filmmakers say it is easy to make a movie with newcomers as they are, sometimes, even ready to work without remuneration and have no “image” yet. “For a movie to do well, it should either have a big hero or a fresh face. Big heroes have fan bases and fresh faces have the curiosity factor which attracts the crowds. It is possible to experiment without any interference from the actors if they are fresh,” says M Sreedhar Reddy, director of Sneha Geetham which made decent profits. Sreedhar selected six lead actors for this film from 3,000 applicants.

Ditto with director N. Shankar who is making a movie on the Telangana issue. Shankar selected 60 fresh faces after three months of auditions. “It’s not that all movies with fresh faces are hits. But it suits the script that I am working on and these actors don’t carry preconceived images as they are all debutants.”

Apart from selling “freshness” as a USP, filmmakers are using the entire exercise of auditions as a marketing stunt. By tying up with radio stations and TV channels for them, the film gets talked about from its inception.

The trend of fresh faces even has actress Bhumika, who turned producer with Thakita Thakita and Kalyani, who is making Chapter-6, hiring newcomers for their projects.

T’wood filmmakers are also hiring “Telugu” actors, “Many Telugu girls are now willing to act. Hiring a fresh face who is a Telugu saves energy, time and money in dubbing and ex-plaining the scene to them,” adds Sreedhar.

Since stars from Akkinenis, Daggubatis, Allus and Nandamuris charge exorbitant amounts, most producers in the industry who have been fighting for cuts in the remunerations of big stars, also feel that the entry of fresh faces infuses competition. Trade pundits say a family name doesn’t guarantee success.
Actress Sowmya, who debuted with Young India, reasons, “Most freshers act for peanuts or for free. They don’t throw tantrums and are willing to work round the clock. It is easy to mould these freshers. Hiring fresh faces allows them to spend money on the making of the movie rather than on remunerations. Even if the movie bombs at the box office, it is still a soft blow.”