Shubhabrata Dutta
For those unaware, several film industries in India produce films in their regional languages. While Bollywood, the Hindi film industry, is the one that has the most far-reaching influence, the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali film industries of the country are catching up fast and have already made a mark. The Telugu film industry has been around since 1909, and its contribution to the cinematic art form in the subcontinent remains unparalleled to this very day. The popularity of Telugu cinema has made streaming platforms worldwide, including Prime Video, add several Telugu films to their collections, giving the audience a wider palette of world cinema.
18. Swag (2024)
Hasith Goli’s rom-com ‘Swag’ spans generations and focuses on an inheritance. A decision by the 16th-century queen of the matriarchal Swaganika kingdom leads to a current-day fight among a handful of heirs claiming the Swaganika treasures. What adds to the comedy of errors is that some of them are lookalikes, and there is also a rival family bent on usurping the riches. Starring Sree Vishnu, Ritu Varma, Sunil, and Daksha Nagarkar, ‘Swag’ does a pretty good job handling a story on gender equality and a battle of the sexes that covers centuries and works just fine as a family entertainer. You can watch it here.
17. Balagam (2023)
Directed by Venu Yeldandi, ‘Balagam’ is a family drama starring Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Kavya Kalyanram, and Sudhakar Reddy. The film centers on Sayilu (Pulikonda), whose elderly grandfather’s death delays his wedding. This is problematic for him as he would have used the dowry from the marriage to clear his debt to a cruel moneylender. With his marriage indefinitely postponed, he finds another way to get hold of the amount. His path, however, won’t be easy as marrying a cross-cousin is taboo, after all. Sensitive and heartwarming, ‘Balagam’ won many awards, including the one for the Best Film at the Filmfare Awards South. You can watch it here.
16. Saaho (2019)
Prabhas, best known as the leading actor in the ‘Baahubali’ franchise, plays the starring role in this action film. ‘Saaho’ also stars Bollywood actors like Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Chunky Pandey. The film’s story is centered around the fictional Waaji City, which is under the control of Roy (Jackie Shroff). His rival gang, led by Devaraj (Chunkey Pandey), is always looking for opportunities to eliminate Roy and gain control of the city themselves. At such a point, Devaraj also starts suffering losses, with huge amounts of his own money being stolen by some unidentified entity. This is when an undercover cop called Ashok (Prabhas) comes into the picture. His job is to stop this gang war by any means necessary. You can watch the movie here.
15. Acharya (2022)
Written and directed by Koratala Siva, ‘Acharya’ is a Telugu-language action drama film. The Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan-starrer centers upon a tribal clan that plays a crucial role in building the temple city of Dharmasthali, surrounded by the Siddhavanam forest. Unfortunately, it is primarily under the control of the local municipal chairman, Basava, who plans to give up the city for mining exploitation. So, when a Naxal named Acharya, disguised as a carpenter, enters the city and learns about Basava’s tyrannical rule, he decides to free them from his political grip so that it can flourish again. But will he succeed in his highly ambitious plans? You can stream the movie here and find out for yourself.
14. Eagle (2024)
Telugu superstar Ravi Teja plays the role of an infamous retired assassin named Sahadev Varma alias Eagle in this action-packed massy flick directed by Karthik Gattamneni. While Sahadev now lives as a cotton farmer, keeping his dark side locked in one corner of his brain, he is on the radar of terrorists and other extremist factions across the planet. However, there is more to his current undercover role, as he intends to bring an end to the illegal arms trade. Meanwhile, journalist Nalini, who is working on Sahadev’s rare cotton, starts digging into his infamous past. Alongside Ravi Teja, the cast of ‘Eagle’ includes Kavya Thapar, Navdeep, Anupama Parameswaran, Vinay Rai, Srinivas Avasarala, and Madhoo. You can watch the movie here.
13. Om Bheem Bush (2024)
‘Om Bheem Bush’ is a horror comedy that follows friends Krish, Vinay, and Madhav, whose unorthodox love for science brings them to the village of Bhairavapuram. Here, they are challenged by a local occultist to prove their talents as scientists by finding a treasure hidden inside the Sampangi palace. However, once inside, they encounter the ghost of noblewoman Sampangi, who was cursed to protect the palace’s secret. Will the trio be able to overcome the odds and prove themselves right? Directed by Sree Harsha Konuganti, ‘Om Bheem Bush’ is a bingewatch-worthy drama starring Sree Vishnu, Priyadarshi, Rahul Ramakrishna, Preity Mukundhan, Ayesha Khan, and Racha Ravi. You can watch the film here.
12. The Ghazi Attack (2017)
This Sankalp Reddy directorial, also known as ‘Ghazi,’ is a war film based on the mysterious disappearance of the Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. While the Indian Navy took the credit for destroying it, the Pakistani military stated that it sank due to an explosion within the submarine or a detonation of mines that it was laying. The film, however, showcases the Indian Navy’s side of the story and shows how the Indian submarine INS Karanj (S21) remained underwater for 18 days to intercept PNS Ghazi and destroy it. A testimony of the bravery of all the Indian souls onboard, ‘The Ghazi Attack’ won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. The cast includes Kay Kay Menon, Taapsee Pannu, Rana Daggubati, Atul Kulkarni, and Rahul Singh. You can watch the film here.
11. Kaappaan (2019)
This film’s cast comprises two Telugu film industry veterans- Suriya and Mohanlal. The latter plays the role of the Prime Minister of India, while Suriya dons the character of a policeman who serves as the PM’s constant bodyguard. The PM, Chandrakant Varma, is an honest politician eager to do good for the country. As he goes about doing his job, the PM gets killed one day in a military coup. Suriya’s character, Ravi Kishore, is puzzled by the murder and wonders who would want to kill such an honest human being. He swears he will get to the bottom of this in any way possible.
Both actors bring their nuances to their respective characters, and thus, their performances are able to go beyond the scope of the screenplay. Both halves of the film are rather intense, and the climax does enough justice to the careful build-up. You can stream ‘Kaappaan’ here.
10. Middle Class Melodies (2020)
Directed by Vinod Anantoju, ‘Middle Class Melodies’ is a comedy-drama that follows a young middle-class man named Raghava who works at his father Kondal Rao’s hotel in their village. Known for his famous Bombay chutney, Raghava decides to open his own hotel in the nearby town of Guntur, something his father is against. How Raghava tries to fulfill his dream while maneuvering his complicated romantic relationship with a girl named Sandhya is what we find out in this sweet drama. ‘Middle Class Melodies’ stars Anand Devarakonda as Raghava, Varsha Bollamma as Sandhya, and Goparaju Ramana as Kondal Rao. You can stream the film here.
9. Ammu (2022)
Directed by Charukesh Sekar, this social drama follows a woman named Ammu whose dream of having a happy married life shatters after her cop-husband Ravi hits her. She expects that he will not do it again, but this behavior continues and takes the shape of physical abuse pushed to its limits. Trapped, Ammu decides to fight back and plans a way to make Ravi pay. An intriguing and compelling watch, ‘Ammu’ stars Aishwarya Lekshmi, Naveen Chandra, Bobby Simha, Raja Ravindra, and Parvathi T. You can watch the film here.
8. Chinni (2022)
Arun Matheswaran’s ‘Chinni’ is a Telugu drama film that recounts a story of injustice, pain, and vengeance. The movie follows Ponni (Keerthy Suresh), a responsible policewoman who lost everything when her daughter and husband passed away. As if the injustice done to her loved ones was not bad enough, she endures sexual harassment by upper-class men with no hopes of making the criminals legally accountable. Although she has been on bad terms with her half-brother Sangaiyya, Ponni joins hands with him to plot a revenge plan. However, going against powerful men when society itself is twisted to suit their needs is no easy task, and Ponni soon finds out that her path to justice will be paved with challenges. You can stream the film here to find out how she does so.
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7. Evaru (2019)
An intense crime thriller, ‘Evaru’ centers around a character called Sameera (Regina Cassandra), who has been charged with the murder of a police officer. Despite falling into such a mess, Sameera does not get any help from her husband in this regard and thus decides to pursue the matter herself. She gets help from a corrupt police officer called Vikram (Adivi Sesh). As the film progresses, we realize that Sameera, too, has a lot of secrets under her belt. The film touches upon themes of sexuality, desire, and murder, and overall, is a rather compelling watch. The best aspect of this film is that there are many layers to the story, which are exposed as the narrative progresses. The movie is loosely adapted from the 2016 Spanish film ‘The Invisible Guest’ directed by Oriol Paulo. You may watch ‘Evaru’ here.
6. Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1 (2021)
‘Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1’ tells the story of Pushpa Raj, a laborer whose rise in the world of red sandalwood smuggling earns him many enemies, including the notorious Konda Reddy, a reputed name in the sandalwood smuggling world, Konda’s boss and syndicate head Mangalam Srinu, and egoistic police officer Bhanwar Singh Shekawat. How Pushpa maneuvers through the business while caring for his foes makes for a satiating cinematic experience. The star cast includes Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Sunil, and Rashmika Mandanna. You may watch the film here.
5. Dear Comrade (2019)
Starring Vijay Deverakonda, Rashmika Mandanna, and Shruti Ramachandran, ‘Dear Comrade’ is a romantic drama film. The Bharat Kamma directorial centers upon a student union leader named Bobby, who falls in love with Lily, a state-level cricketer. Although he is madly in love with her, Bobby’s anger management issues stand in the way of their romance. It soon becomes evident to the student union leader that if he plans to fight for his love, then he must wage war not only against those standing in his way but also against his temperament, which is his worst enemy. You can watch ‘Dear Comrade’ here.
4. V (2020)
A typical yet high-octane cat-and-mouse chase between a cop and a serial killer where the dynamics keep changing, ‘V’ is directed by Mohana Krishna Indraganti and stars Nani, Sudheer Babu, and Nivetha Thomas. What enrages the cop is that the killer leaves a note for him at every crime scene, challenging him, and finally, he faces the challenge of either preventing a string of four more murders or resigning. While we are subjected to all that the criminal is doing, which is usually kept under a cloak in thrillers, it is a way to show his pride in doing what he does. This makes him more than a criminal, a force to be reckoned with. You can check out the film here.
3. Kalki 2898 AD (2024)
Nag Ashwin’s epic sci-fi drama merges humans and gods in a never-before-seen manner. Set in a dystopian future, the narrative, inspired by Hindu mythology, follows two plots, one from the POV of a human bounty hunter named Bhairava (Prabhas) and another from the POV of Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan), a cursed god. Both of them are connected via Kalki, the 10th and final avatar of Lord Vishnu, whose arrival is awaited by the residents of the city of Kasi, ruled by powerful god-king Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan).
A visual spectacle with a powerful multi-layered plot, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ does a great job incorporating mythology in sci-fi. Co-starring Deepika Padukone and Malvika Nair, the film broke many box-office records and is a must-watch Telugu drama on the streaming service. You can stream it here.
2. Jathi Ratnalu (2021)
Directed by Anudeep Kv, ‘Jathi Ratnalu’ is a comedy-drama that does complete justice to its genre. We have three friends, Srikanth, Sekhar, and Ravi, who set out with their dreams and aspirations only to get involved in a dangerous game of politics underscored by the confusion that makes this movie a laughter riot. It is nonsensical, and yet we gladly let the suspension of disbelief take over us as we enjoy watching the three guys define friendship in their own chaotic yet sweet fashion. The movie’s cast includes Naveen Polishetty, Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Rahul Ramakrishna, and Faria Abdullah. Feel free to check out the movie here.
1. Sita Ramam (2022)
Directed by Hanu Raghavapudi, the movie stars Mrunal Thakur, Dulquer Salmaan, and Rashmika Mandanna. The movie is set across two timelines; in one timeline, we have an orphaned soldier, Ram, whose grief of not receiving letters is answered by people all across the world, and as a result, he starts receiving lots of letters, among which is one that is written by a woman named Sita who claims to be his wife. In the other timeline, Afreen, a young Pakistani girl, is tasked with delivering a letter to India. How these two timelines are connected makes for a beautiful and emotional love story that transcends time itself. You may watch the film here.
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