New bunch of comedian-turned-heroes

Upcoming comedian Bithri Satti aka Chevvala Ravi, who is known for his spoofs on small screen and comedy roles in films like 'Nene Raju Nene Mantri,' will be playing the lead in his upcoming movie 'Tuppaki Ramudu,' set to release shortly, to join the bandwagon of rib-ticklers turned stars in T-town.

"We cast Bittri Satti in a role of an underdog who rebels against the baddy but the transition will be logical. Also we wanted a new face for our script," says T Prabhakar, director of the T-centric movie.

Just few months ago, star comedian Priyadarshi Pulikonda, who enthralled viewers with his Telangana dialect in movies like 'Pellichoopulu' and with comic-timing in 'Jai Lava Kusa' before turning hero with 'Mallesham', a biopic on Padmasri awardee and inventor of new weaving process in Telanganga state.

"Priyadarshi proved that he can pull off a serious role with ease.

It was a heart-touching movie and fetched him big recognition for his subtle performance," adds Prabhakar, who hopes that young comedian Mahesh Achanta of 'Rangasthalam' fame will break the jinx with his film 'Nenu Naa Nagarjuna' which is set to hit the screens very soon.

The attempt of journalist-turned-actor Rahul Ramakrishna of 'Arjun Reddy' and 'Geeta Govindam' fame to turn hero with dark comedy 'Mithai' had no takers.

"Frankly, it has been a bad year for some comedian-turned-heroes since they were unable to draw crowds. Although they stole the thunder under the nose of popular stars for their comic-timing, as heroes they are deprived of such adulation or box office collections," says distributor Bharat Bushan, who describes the average grosser 'Kobbari Matta' featuring Sampoornesh Babu which garnered Rs 2.5 crore as an exception this year.

With comedy star Sapthagiri's 'Vajra Kavacha…..' tanking at the box office, the fate of comedian-turned-heroes is going from bad to worse. "The problem for comedian-turned-hero arises when they focus on building a hero image and not picking the right script.

They should also avoid doing spoofs since it has been done-to-death. Actually, viewers don't expect comedians to develop dash board abs, rather want to see them in boy-next-door roles that are close to real-life, hence comedian-turned heroes should play underdog roles like Sunil in 'Maryadarammanna' to strike a chord with viewers," says distributor Vishnumurthy.

It sounds true since Shakalaka Shankar's 'Driver Ramudu' bombed as he played action role, while Srinivas Reddy tasted success with 'Anando Brahma' by playing soft roles.

"It is better comedians keep doing their comedy roles and try out hero roles, once-in-a-while," says distributor Ramakrishna and adds "A handful of young comedians even before attaining star comedian status are donning hero roles, tempted by good money and hero image, but it dents their happening careers."