Wave 2025 | Annapurna Studios' “Supriya Yarlagadda” on Nani's Blockbuster “Court” course, and why South Industries Need to Catch Ott Revolution: 'We Need More Writers'
Producer-Entrepreneur Supriya Yarlagadda believes that even in the current era, the industry must provide a huge harvest. That's why the executive director of Annapurna Studios believes a lesson can be learned from the huge success of Nani's Telugu movie venue, a medium-sized film that became a sensation in the Spectacle Cinema era.
When asked about films like Ram Jagadeesh that go against industry concepts and are hit, Yarlagadda quipped in a panel discussion on the ongoing Wave 2025 Summit: “I don’t think anyone knows it.”
“We talked about wonder movies, but the court violated all the norms. It just said that someone told a good story, said it well, and they made me feel when I came out of the theater and I had something to say. We could talk about dreams, hopes, stories, but is the bottom line for you?
“Storytelling, filmmaking, content creation (whatever we want to use) is essentially about wanting to be liked. And the court comes out very cleanly and don't try anything and just say, 'I'll tell you a story. Do you like me?'” the producer said.
In the panel, titled Breaking New Ground: Evolution of Storytelling in the Digital Era, featured a distinguished lineup including Ruchika Kapoor Sheikh (Director, Original Films, Netflix India), producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, Tanya Bami (Series Head, Netflix India), Academy Award-winning producer Guneet Monga, and acclaimed American director, screenwriter, and producer Michael Lehmann.
Yarlagadda urges young storytellers to avoid getting entangled in fashionable film terms like “hyperpositioning” or “cross-border content.” Instead, she stresses that success lies in fostering a “funny idea” through ruthless hard work, a process described as hard and rigorous but ultimately exciting.
“Just because an idea is fun, it won't make a great movie. There's a lot of work, collapse and perseverance in it. It's not a fascinating. I think when we sit here and talk about all the beautiful things, I really hope that young filmmakers can be sure it's hard work. So if you want your ideas and blood, then you have to believe that if you're going to do it, we're not willing to do it, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working, because it's working
At the conference, the producers also highlighted a joint supervision of the Hindi film industry, with diverse films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada often evenly under the “Southern Movie” on the umbrella
“In the 'South', what Mumbai says, even though we are not the South; we are in four languages, four different industries – we all desire cinemas. Cinemas are still big for us and we are proud of it.”
Yarlagadda then added the scope of how the streaming revolution made Indian storytellers write more original ideas that didn’t depend on stars or budgets but great characters.
“I have to say, maybe we yearn for still on the big screen, which is why we're behind in exploring the series format. I think there's a Tamil story, a Kannada story, a Telugu story, a Malayalam story, and some success on OTT recently (on Ott). But I think we're behind. We need to catch up with more wer.
She added: “It's not about trying to put them on the stars and install them on a large budget, which we used to love, but about understanding that the game is very different. For all these beautiful stories, all of these writers, I think it's our digital time now.”
