We consider Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna and Venkatesh as the four pillars of Tollywood. While stars like Pawan, Mahesh Babu, NTR, Allu Arjun and Charan are the bigger stars now and scoring pan-Indian hits, the way the senior heroes carried the film industry in the 80s, 90s and 2000s is unforgettable. They are the inspiration to young heroes and they are setting an example even today with their dedication and hard work.
The main challenge the four of them are facing right now is their age. A lot of people are expecting them to play their age. Chiranjeevi is 67 years old who is enjoying the success of his son and he has a lot of grandkids. But he is still playing regular commercial hero roles who dances with young heroines in the movies. It is no longer acceptable and ‘Bholaa Shankar’ proved it. The audience are not interested in seeing such films.
Venkatesh was the first one to change himself as he was seen playing the role of a father for two daughters in ‘Drushyam’ which came 9 years ago. He played an elderly role in ‘Narappa’ too. But these two films are remakes and the writers in Tollywood need to come up with mature roles for these senior heroes. He is playing a middle-aged role in ‘Saindhav’ which will be released in December.
Nagarjuna is referred to as ‘Manmadhudu’ right for the past three decades. He is still very handsome but he cannot play the same roles even after crossing sixty. His son Naga Chaitanya is 36 years old while Akhil is 29. Barring ‘Soggade Chinni Nayana’, none of his films succeeded in the past few years. His movies like ‘Ghost’ and others were disasters. Many are suggesting the senior heroes to take inspiration from Tamil legends like Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan who scored blockbusters with ‘Jailer’ and ‘Vikram’ respectively. Both the stars played the role of grandfathers in the movie. We need to see if our senior heroes change their style or not.
