'Ruffians' take T-town by storm

Move over chocolate boy heroes, now it is the season of rugged and violent heroes in T-town. Young actor Ram Pothineni shattered box office records with 'iSmart Shankar," with his forceless performance as a local thug and changed his image for good.

Now, it is the turn of his colleague Varun Tej to break away from his lover boy image by playing a merciless gangster in 'Gaddalakonda Ganesh,' after growing thick beard and moustache to terrify his opponents on screen.

"Initially, I wasn't sure how Telugu audience would receive me in a ferocious avatar but after the overwhelming response to my first look, gave me confidence," said Varun Tej, prior-to-release.

Director Sudheer Varma feels that young heroes need not be apprehensive because Telugu audience are game for variety these days.

"Our new heroes are illiterate, fearless, who don't mind mouthing a few cuss words. A damn-a-care attitude and beating their opponents to pulp," is the new definition of Telugu stars," he adds.

Earlier, heroes had to follow a moral scale in terms of their character and any mistake from his side, would be later rectified with a good deed.

"Those days have gone, because new-age heroes need not redeem themselves and carry on with their attitude, that's pretty cool and even audience don't expect such niceties from their heroes," says director Chandoo Mondeti.

Actually, Jr NTR and Rana dabbled with character-less roles to set a precedent of sorts. "JR NTR's dark cop role in 'Temper' will remain one of his best dark roles.

He broke the monotony of a hero and triggered a new trend of a corrupt and reckless cop in T-town. Rana followed it up with his menacing politician role in 'Nene Raju Nene Mantri,' as he decimates his rivals without batting an eyelid and both the stars took T-town by storm," adds Srikanth Addala.

When Varun Tej felt happy to do away with hard-earned lover boy image, it surely shows the confidence of new bunch of stars.

"Usually, Telugu heroes stick to their established image and try to build their career with similar kind of roles.

But these young turks have different mindset and are daring to take chances to expand their fan base, because rowdy-centric roles pay big dividends with B and C class viewers," says director Prashant Varma.

Actually, an actor can portray varied emotions in a negative role than positive, because the latter is predictable and lacks sting. "Maybe the new generation viewers want their heroes to surprise them with new avatars, than repeating themselves.

In that scenario, heroes showcasing villainish traists in thier roles, is one good option," says director Puri Jagannath, who gave Ram a make-over with 'iSmart Shankar.

"I don't even like to watch movies that show heroes in self-pitious roles. My heroes are daring and dashing with streak of violence in them."