Is This The Biggest Problem With Telugu Cinema?

Telugu cinema has been leading the race in Indian cinema with regard to quality of production and also the scale of the filmmaking. But there are certain things that have not been going the way of the Telugu film industry and here is a discussion on the same.

Noted Telugu screenwriter BVS Ravi has made some sharp observations about the production economics behind the recently released Bollywood spy thriller Dhurandhar, drawing a striking contrast with how films are made in Tollywood.

BVS Ravi pointed out that the makers of Dhurandhar produced an eight-hour spy saga across two parts at a combined budget of just Rs 260 crore.

The film features a star-studded cast including Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, Akshay Khanna, and Sanjay Dutt, and was shot across rich and visually impressive locations. Despite the scale and the ensemble, the project was completed within what he considers a disciplined budget.

Ravi then turned his comments toward the Telugu film industry, noting that the same film, if produced in Tollywood, would have cost at least Rs 500 crore. The remark was aimed at a broader pattern he sees in the industry, where filmmakers invest heavily in grandeur and spectacle but do not bring the same level of focus and discipline to content.

His comments have sparked conversation online, with many in the film community seeing his remarks as a pointed critique of the tendency in Telugu cinema to prioritise lavish production value and star power over storytelling quality. BVS Ravi’s observation has been widely shared and discussed as the debate over budget discipline and creative priorities continues to resonate within the industry.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​