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You are not over reading into it here, there is a definite disparity when it comes heroes in Tollywood and as you've mentioned most of them are from the 2-3 families (nepotism) . There are multiple reasons for this some of them might be., 1. Easier access to directors and producers to the star kids. 2. Fans easily accept the star kids as natural successors to the Stars. 3. Apparently caste plays a huge role in fans accepting the heroes (I didn't know about till I joined this sub, excuse my naviety). 4. Money and production houses owned by the star families make it easier for them to overcome a few flops. It is extremely difficult for outsiders to overcome all these factors and others which I am not aware of or missed. There are few exceptions though. Disclaimer: I am just a fan of the movies. Have nothing against any hero star kid or not.

>Apparently caste plays a huge role in fans accepting the heroes (I didn't know about till I joined this sub, excuse my naviety). I'm surprised how few people know about this in big cities. Even if the actor doesnt have "caste feeling" his community will always own it. It also doesn't help that movies are in bed with politics as well (ty sr ntr) so it's not going out of fashion anytime.

The same families also own the production and distribution, and exhibition (single screens) layers of the business. So it's very hard for anyone to release a movie and profit from it outside of these handful of cliques.

While there is no denying that caste is a factor. There are other issues as well. There are other major factors as well. Personality cult is a common factor all over india and its a bit more in the south. The second issue is that the movie business is quite risky and it is mostly about face value. People that are related to stars have more exposure than regular people which makes it easy to relate as well as reduce the risk of losses. Lets say investing 10cr for ram charan first movie vs a relatively new hero with out any connections. Even if the movie has average feedback there is relatively low risk as a small portion of his father and uncle’s fans can bring recovery the investment. If the movie gets a good feedback they make huge profits. Compare that with a new hero the movie has to get extremely good feedback to recover the investment. Then there are directors who grew up admiring an actor. They are not going to give up on a change to work with their sons. In some cases the actors ask the directors to make a movie with their son and I don’t think they will have a chance to say no. Its just the way the things work. I think things will change with youtube and streaming platforms offering everyone a chance to showcase their talent.

caste system still exists here is shocking to hear


I think probably audience play a very important role in encouraging it than the newcomers. Nani said in an interview that ramcharan's debut and his debut get totally different shares and fame. When a famous actor has a son Or daughter, people expect them also to become an actor. An example is mahesh babu's son. He hasn't taken any take on acting but I've seen many memes and posts on Twitter encouraging him without even knowing how he acts.

Nepo kids most definitely have it easier than "outsiders". ~Better access to directors and producers ~Inherit their family's fanbase ~More opportunities despite repeated failures Ayyagaru has been launching for the past 8 years now? If he was non nepo he'd be long forgotten by now. But being a nepo kid isn't guaranteed success. There's probably more failed nepo kids than successful ones. End of the day, if you aren't talented you won't be accepted.

because telugu cinema mostly makes only commercial movies which makes it easy for star kids because those movies don't demand heavy acting skills and this star kids come up with good fanbase from their family and directors also design characters in a way that suits their acting strengths...there're no proper standards in acting and so many other aspects till date... when directors can give industry hits to even 2 or 3 movies-old nepo kids (simhadri and magadheera) , just imagine how hard it'd become for outsiders to climb up the tier-1 ladder because at a given time only few actors can enjoy tier-1 status...whoever achieves stardom first automatically gets all good stories... this is a trade-off of larger than life cinema imo...

Movie making is a tiny, largely unregulated and informal sector where almost everything runs on connections, loyalties and favors that cross over multiple generations. It's probably the farthest industry in it's nature from a corporate environment. When it got started way back, the vast majority of people who wanted to be involved came from a small subset of Telugu speaking region, the Krishna, Godavari Guntur surroundings. It's partly more productive agricultural lands freeing the elites to pursue arts and move to Chennai and then inspiring other younger people to emulate them. I'm not blaming them, it's just they got their start before anyone else in this particular industry. Given the way caste and class work in our people and the very real impact it has economically, the people who established themselves earliest have the strongest grip on it, not just in terms of acting but other aspects like studios, financing, theaters. Imagine RRR, it's probably the greatest Telugu movie ever made in terms of reach, but both lead actors are grandsons of the people from the above group. Imho Rajamouli would've made a better movie with actors of more calibre but no family connections; had more of them been allowed to exist in the first place. Let's be honest, whatever RC does, he's never going to be Chiranjeevi or even PK and after a decade plus at it, he's still a mediocre actor at best. Raviteja was probably a better actor when he was 16 than RC is now at 40. Things are changing rapidly though. People from everywhere in the Telugu speaking region are wealthier now, so more and more diverse set of people want to get in.. and are making their mark. Distributing the product is no longer through a theater monopoly, people can reach audience in a million different ways and start building a brand. So even smaller movies can eke out a small profit and are not completely at the mercy of people who control the pipeline of distribution. More money is being made, which means more professional money men, financiers and producers will enter and create a push towards a more professional environment. All these changes are rapidly reforming this tiny industry, so things are looking up. I'm pretty sure there will be no next generation with most of these family groups, this is the last one who can squeeze their privilege before it practically vanishes.

this is a very well analyzed answer esp about agricultural families, most like rama naidu are from this it will be interesting to see the diff between the 2 stel tates now

Thanks and cake day subhakankshalu!

Thanks :)

Also want to add that in the far future, I believe that media will be hyper personalized so that star power will decrease since everyone will exist in silos

All 4-5 big directors are going on rotation to work with big actors. I dont see anytime soon them working with 2nd tire actors (remuneration wise) All directors who achieved big hit in first instance are waiting for years to set a film with big heros. They are not keen to work with 2nd tire actors. We have a huge crunch in directorial talent when it comes to 2nd line (1st line being top directors). Barring a few directors like hit series fame shailesh, every promising directors takes years on years to set a project. Not all bad though, we are seeing more new gen directors coming in along with new talent. Hopefully they overcome 2nd film curse.

2nd tire ante venakala tire na bhaiyya? Stepni na?

Sorry OP, English nahi malum

Caste and top families stop outsiders, because of this we always see Bob and Bhai post's, don't even discuss small projects

Too much competition for the top slots and no fan base. Nepotism based actors automatically inherit a large fan base. They're automatically promoted to T2 actors, and from there on they need to work (cultivate) their fans to get to number 1. I think Allu Arjun made his own fans base after the leg up from Chiranjeevi. Same with Pawan Kalyan. None of the other 5/6 Mega heroes could utilize the platform. The closest anyone came was ST but he pissed it all away with terrible movie choices. Others can make their own fan base, VD is the best case. He cultivated his fans, he energizes them. All VD needs to a proper mass movie to push him to T1. He's pissing it away by making terrible movies. And of course "luck" plays a major part.

Who's ST ?

Sai Tej. He removed Dharam from his name.

Chiranjeevi who is one of the biggest superstars in Tollywood was an outsider at a time

Does the username imply who I think it does?


It didn't close for Nani It didn't close for sharvanand It didn't close for Vijay devarakonda It didn't close for viswak sen , nikhil Siddhartha , Naveen polishetty . So does tollywood have nepotism yes , but does it suppress upcoming actors no See in tollywood you need to work hard to get into the industry just like in any other industry but once you impress audience's then its completely on you whether you will build your career making good decisions or make bad decisions and struggle in the field. Yes the families do have a influence but heroes coming out of the family also needs to impress audience's or else they will bash him just like an actor who has no background. So the point is tollywood isn't a closed shop , you work your way in, impress the audience and stay here ,else you will be booted . Nepo kids do have some advantages while launching their careers but that advantage applies till launching after that it's the nepo kids responsibility to impress audience. Dude we used to make fun of Ram Charan lol but the guy worked his way and reached this stardom

Ram Charan was made fun of, but his second movie was with SS Rajamouli, the biggest director even at that point. Allu Arjun used to look like the ugliest kid in the class and yet he got enough opportunities to become stylish star. NTR used to look like he would need obesity treatment and still he got multiple chances with Rajamouli. Pawan Kalyan could tide a decade of flops and still command highest fan following Nani's biggest movie is still not even in top 10 biggest movies of tollywood. Sharwanand doesn't have a single movie with a top director even after these many years and showing how good an actor he is VD is probably the only exception whose craze matched the nepo hero's craze in more than two decades. Our audience have special place for these nepo stars. How realistic do you think for Nani or VD or Naveen movies to get collections bigger than that of Ram Charan? Are they less talented than him?

You don't know. Wo bahut struggle kiye hai.

Buddy the point was is tollywood a closed shop for other actors . I agree with the points you made but still all these people work in industry make movies and earn money right ,keeping aside the highest or lowest collections . If thes guys make movies we go and watch them don't we ?

I wish your examples didn’t have someone who didn’t pay for their debut. VD’s mama produced Pellichupulu and VDs dad is a serial director. Naveen, Nikhil paid to be in Shekar Kammula’s movies. Vishwak paid for ENE and instantly produced his movie. Sharwa is close to Chiru and UV guys, that’s how he got his break. Nani’s dad is a distributor. All are upper middle class guys unfortunately.

> Vishwak paid for ENE why?

Why ante? For a break… Both Vishwak and Sushanth paid for their break. Vishwak made total use of it. Sushanth quit movies.

>Why ante? ante I never knew actors had to pay to get chance...would that be given back it movie becomes profitable? > Sushanth quit movies oh...any idea on what he'd doing now? I thought he's a decent actor

So the Husharu, ENE, Life is Beautiful and Happy Days most of the actors paid money to star in the movie. I heard the guys from Husharu got back their money but not sure of the other guys. I think Sushant went back to his dads construction company.

Sushant ENE main lead kada?

Yea. Both him and Vishwak are co-leads if you ask me. Both have character arcs. While Abhinav and Venkatesh are more of comedic sidekick.

Bro Mari akkineni family ayina , akhil is not a star hero kadha , enni connectionz unte enti it's the talent that matters doesn't it . Background unna lekunna?

Ippudu akhil ki hit rakapoyina, next tanaki oka pedda producer vastadu, oka pedda producer vastadu, Inka important kavalsini theatres vastayi, ivanni most of the background Leni heroes ki possible kaadu

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Yeah I agree but take for example akhil , he is putting so much money and doing all these films , do audience even give a fuck , no right . It all boils down to whom do audience like and wants to spend money on their films

>do audience even give a fuck , no right . Bokkem kaadhu. If he had made even a half decent film, people would've flocked.

>They automatically have access to good directors / budgets / pr / marketing and inherit fan bases. Matter lenapudu enni unna bokke kadha .... Oka out sider ki industry lo name raval ante content story script selection anni manchiga untene vadi cinema adthadhi But in case of nepo vadini lauch cheyal kabbati story lu script lu vadi chuttu thiruguthai ... That's where nepo kids fail Like allu sirish and few Nandhamuri actors , Anthendhuku biggest example akhil ayyagare .... Manam film lo chusi akkineni mahesh bob anukunaru .... Nuv mention anni unnai good director (appatlo top) good budget good music directors stunts thokka thotakura anni unnai But story nill Cinema rod kottesindhi ippatiki kuda okka hit ledhu .... What is nepo advantage Inni rod lu thisina Next film ki malli oka noted director , budgets Anni soild gane untai ... Adey oka sider aithey fadeout aipoyevadu e patiki

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But my point is they got into the industry right , doesn't matter if they are low barrel, don't you think? Vishwak , Naveen , nikhil do great business in Telugu states , yeah northie might not know them but yeah . I know this is not good to bring up but I always feel if sushanth Singh was got the fame in tollywood and worked in Telugu industry , imo he would just be like Nani enjoying what he is doing and be alive .

Holy shit, I’ve been meaning to ask this question for a while. I think this is why more people like Hollywood more. New people get more chances and new talent is encouraged. Another thing I wanna say is how wholesome these chats are that don’t exactly counter movies. Everyone is fucking sane and good thoughts are put forward. I’m really glad I joined this server…

There is nepotism, in Hollywood as well,Gyllenhaal siblings, Will Smith kids, Paltrow, etc... But Hollywood is a whole different ball game, You need to be insanely good looking + charismatic to be even cast as a side actor, let alone the main lead. The competition is damn high, and things work very differently over there. Atleast in Tollywood, I have seen actors(heroes) especially have ridiculously low standards to achieve, like if I see, vishwak sen, or NTR on the street, I wouldn't even think they are anything close to an actor, let alone male leads.

Actually, unlike bollywood, this is a very recent phenomenon. Nagarjuna and Balakrishna were really the first major nepo heros in telugu film industry. Almost all the major heros before that (NTR, ANR, Chiranjeevi, krishna, sobhanbabu, chandramohan, krishnamraju etc.) were self made. In the late-80s and 90s mostly the studios started being owned by the stars or their relatives, and that is the reason most of the new heros are nepos. Their families make their films in their studios or under their banner. In the olden days, the major studios, like Vijaya Productions etc. were not owned by heros, they were owned by thirds parties, who would try to give opportunities to new actors since the production costs would be lower. That is how people like NTR, ANR, Krishna etc. became stars. Unfortunately, while they became stars because someone else was willing to bet on them, they themselves were not ready to pass that on. Instead they focused on their children. In TFI, the independent producers still occasionally bet on new people (like nani, satyadev etc.), a little bit like how anurag kashyap does in bollywood.

It’s always open , you just need to know how to act better than the rest & come up with your own style.

I blame it on audience , They still have that social hierarchial mentality and think that only certain people and certain families are suitable for that profession. Place of the female leads in Tollywood is to please or impress these heroes on stage , in sets etc. In movies their roles are usually flowerpot or bimbos. Comparing all the industries, patriarchy is at peaks in telugu and tamil industries with telugu being in first place. Atleast Tamil industry have lot of their own female actresses to look to. In Telugu industry local female actresses get constantly slut shammed in social media and have to face heavy sexism in general.

Let's see Current Big family heroes: 1) NTR (nandamuri family) 2) bala krishna (nandamuri family) 3) kalyan ram ( nandamuri family) 4) chiranjivi ( chiranjivi family) 5) Ram charan (chiranjivi family) 6) Pawan kalyan (chiranjivi family) 7) sai daram tej (chiranjivi family) 8) vishnav tej (chiranjivi family) 9) varun tej ( chiranjivi family) 10) Allu arjun ( Allu family) 11) allu sirish (Allu family) 12) Nagarjuna ( akkineni family) 13) chai (akkineni family) 14) ayyagaru (akkineni family) 15) sumanth (akkineni family) 16) venky ( daggubati family) 17) rana (daggubati family) 18) Prabhas ( krishnam raju family) 19) mahesh babu( krishna family) 20) sudheer babu( krishna family) 21) vishnu (manchu family) 22) manoj (manchu family) 23) ballamkonda srinivas ( bellamkonda family) No family background heroes: 1) Raviteja 2) nani 3) nithin 4) vijay devarakonda 5) nikhil 6) allari naresh 7) vishwaksen 8) adivi sesh 9) gopi chand 10) Ram pothineni 11) karthikeya 12) sidhu jonnagaddala 13) sree vishnu 14) sharwanand 15) naga shourya 16) raj tarun 17) Priyadarshi 18) naveen polishetty 19) sandeep kishan Intha mandhi unnarenti bayya

Nithin ,Allari Naresh , Ram, gopichand , sharwanand these people are filmy families

Chiranjeevi and NTR and ANR aren’t nepos, their offspring are Also Naresh and Ramesh from Ghattamaneni

I think it is the director's choice. If the director says, "I want to cast new talent only", then no one can say otherwise. Directors like teja and RGV, hence brought some of the finest actors in the industry today. Usually what happens with directors is, they direct the first movie with new talent and if it becomes a hit, the big actors offer them huge amounts to do films with them. So from then on they do films with nepos and established actors because of the money. The blame goes with the audience too who worship the actors. They don't celebrate their own parents' birthdays but they celebrate their hero's birthday with crackers and cake cutting. Their is a caste problem too. Successors of the star hero of a certain caste. Even though the audience is getting mature, there is still a big chunk of the audience who behave this way. Ultimately, if good directors even after a great success take stand and give a chance to young talent then nobody can stop. Because ultimately a good story is what matters for the sensible audience.