Stars turning producers a new fad

Young actor Sundeep Kishan tasted success with his maiden production 'Ninnuveedani Needaninenu' and bounced back into the reckoning just a few weeks ago.

Earlier, reigning star Nani produced a path-breaking movie 'Awe' but couldn't set box office on fire, albeit received loads of critical acclaim.

Joining the young brigade, even -new age star Rana Daggupati is planning to produce Telugu and Tamil movies.

"I think it is just an extension of their creative interests but surely not to mint pots of money," says director Chandra Siddharth, who feels that stars who are drawing big salaries don't need to depend on productions.

"Probably, they want to support novel and refreshing stories, which regular producers don't connect to, hence don producer's hat once-in-a-while," he adds.

if Sundeep Kishan put his money in 'Ninnuveedani…' as he wanted to prove to his detractors that he could judge a script that has potential to spin box office magic, while Nani introduced a young talent Prashant Varma with 'Awe'.

"These heroes may or may not act in their productions, but they are showing interest to promote good and different cinema, that's a good sign," says distributor Ramakrishna.

But the new path chosen by the actors, always hasn't been an easy one. For instance, hotshot Sharwanand burnt his hands with his debut production 'Ko Ante Koti,' while handsome actor Siddharth didn't produce more Telugu films after 'Love Failure'.

"Few actors have stalled productions realizing that it's not their cup of tea and preferred to continue with acting. It's a wise decision, rather than blowing up their hard-earned money," says director Teja.

However, lineage stars like Nithiin, Kalyan Ram and Vishnu Manchu, have to carry the legacy of their illustrious families.

"Irrespective of hits and flops, some actors have to keep producing movies. Kalyan Ram produced most of his movies and Nithiin turned producer with 'Gunde Jaari….'while Vishnu has been making movies as they prefer home productions over outside banners.

They can boast of well-oiled production machinery," concludes director Madhura Sreedhar.