Who has the most business appeal after Tollywood’s male leader today? If we follow the recent movie naming trend, it is director! The director’s name is being added to the work title of the movie. Earlier, only the male protagonist had the highest abbreviation, but now, the directors also have their own opinions.
Take SS Rajamouli’s global movie RRR as an example. When the director promoted the film on the Kapil Sharma Show and was asked about the representatives of RRR, he said that since they were unable to propose the championship at the time, they named RRR after Rajamouli, Ram Charan and Ramarao. Since viewers liked it, they decided to choose the name.
Perhaps, encouraged by RRR’s success, marketing and PR managers decided that some directors should have a place in the film naming system. The work title of Mahesh Babu’s 29th movie is SSMB29. Although it stands for superstar Mahesh Babu (SSMB), one can’t help but notice that it also has a director’s abbreviation. Recently, Allu Arjun announced that his next film will be directed by Atlee. It is tentatively named AA22XA6, combining the abbreviation of the lead actor and director. Similarly, in social media, NTR 3 is also known as Ntrneel.
Mohan Vadlapatla, Tollywood director and producer, says: “It’s understandable that a top director like SS Rajamouli, who is highly popular, teamed up with a major star like Mahesh Babu, and led to the film being referred to as SSMB. Similarly, AA*A represents the collaboration between Allu Arjun and director Atlee. Directors like SS Rajamouli currently do hold strong commercial appeal.”
Earlier the only hero
Films were announced in a new style in the Telugu film industry. Even before choosing a name, these items are announced after the abbreviation of the hero. Before obtaining the official title of PEDDI, Ram Charan’s 16th name was called RC16. Junior NTR’s upcoming thriller (directed by Prashanth Neel), known as NTR31. The Kingdom of Vijay Deverakonda, known as VD 12. His next outing is a Telugu period action thriller directed by Rahul Sankrityan, known as VD 14 in all promotions and updates.
There is no doubt that the hero’s name still has great commercial value regardless of the commercial success of their previous films. It’s a way to signal to their respective fan bases, and the actors play more roles in the movie than life.
Female names are obviously absent
However, in the work title, the female lead name remains significant. Despite the RC 16’s lead, Janhvi Kapoor, SSMB 29 only has global star Priyanka Chopra. But even her name is not worthy of praise.
Is it because of the fact that films led by women are still struggling to find audiences?
Vadlapatla added: “In the future, if it is considered beneficial to attract audience interest and to support the film’s marketing strategy, the title may also include the actress’ name.”
It is worth noting that despite the lead of the popular Tamannaah Bhatia, the recent female-centric Telugu film Odela 2, was bombed at the box office.
One day, the heroine’s name becomes the title, and it remains to be seen. For now, it’s leaders and directors riding high in the wave of business signals.
