TV
Without an iota of doubt, these are the best of times for Telugu cinema. In director-filmmaker’s words ‘Telugu is the new Hindi’. From Baahubali, Pushpa to KGF and Kalki 2898 AD, pan-India telugu movies have not only shattered all existing box office records, but also giving tough competition to the Khans – Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir.
Not just in movie theatres, Telugu films dubbed in Hindi versions, have also been circulating in increasing numbers for well over a decade now. It all began with SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali 1’ starring the mighty Prabhas, Rana Daggubatti, Anushka Shetty and Tamannaah Bhatia.
The image makeover of Telugu cinema is mostly credited and is believed to be facilitated by the stupendous success of Baahubali 1. However, not many know that it was actually Tollywood superstar Akkineni Nagarjuna who is the original and real ‘MASS’ and who introduced Telugu movies in the Hindi belt.
Much before people knew Rocky Bhai (Yash), Salaar (Prabhas) and Pushpa (Allu Arjun), it was Nagarjuna who brought Telugu movies to the North Indian audience. Yes, you read that right! His movies like ‘Mass’ and ‘Don No. 1’ were the first Telugu movies to catch the attention of fans all over India.
Mostly shown in Max, Nagarjuna’s ‘Mass’ was a huge hit among North Indian audience. It is still considered one of the best movies of his career. Especially, the song ‘Mama Mass’ is still one of the most loved songs from the movie.
Mass was released on December 23, 2004 and was Nagarjuna’s highest-grossing film in his career. It was dubbed in Hindi as Meri Jung – One Man Army and was released in Tamil and other languages too. Similarly, Don No 1 also gained a cult status after its release in 2007.
