A few years back commercial Telugu cinema meant something which had all the elements like comedy, action, romance, emotions, and songs. Mostly these kinds of films have created records and huge numbers at the box office. These commercial mass entertainers ruled the roost till recently and were at the top of the chart in Tollywood to box office performances.
Now the audience’s taste has evolved and they are liking larger-than-life characters set against a huge landscape. The Tollywood audience is now either encouraging meaningful content with intense drama or large-scale productions. It appears that the age of mass entertainers where a standard template is followed is now over.
Telugu cinema directors have also changed their approach and are not making regular entertainers. Many production houses and directors are now taking larger-than-life stories that are high on visual effects in order to achieve pan-India success. Not just top stars but even tier 2 heroes have started doing these kinds of films. The success of Karthikeya 2, Bimbisara, and Virupaksha is a testament to this fact.
