A make-believe world

Tollywood is truly living up to its image of a make-believe world. Many actors, actresses, directors and technicians are working under immense pressure to sustain their stardom.

Every actor and director worth his/her salt would like to believe that their ‘career’ is everlasting and they are always at the top and, hence, vulnerable to take refuge in drugs, alcohol and sleeping pills and other vices, once they realise it’s otherwise.

Unfortunately, a handful of actors have attempted or committed suicide, since they lost their careers. The pressure is more on stars and popular directors, than say cinematographers, editors and art directors who are not in the limelight. Apparently, actors on whose name a film sells are unable to realise the fact that stardom is momentary and changes every Friday as new blood flows in.

When footfalls decline at their doorstep, the actors and the directors begin to feel the pressure and like to live in an illusionary world, that life is still hunky dory, but in reality it is not.

Although, a handful of actors and heroines have sensibly established hotels and pubs to earn a living, but many actors still believe that stardom would return, despite their growing age, and eternally wait for that elusive hit.

Even some senior actors suffered this ‘identity crisis’ but later consoled themselves and began to play villain or character roles and remained in the reckoning. It is much worse for young and flop heroines, since they need to maintain a standard of living and sweat it out in gyms hoping that a producer would offer her a plum role, but it would remain a pipedream.

They fail to realise that male stars dislike repeating actresses and are always on the lookout for a new girl to offer refreshing pairing to his fans. With depleting bank balances, some actresses are said to indulge even in flesh trade, to eke out a living and maintain their lifestyles.

Earlier, top actresses like Sridevi, Jayaprada and Jayasudha worked with two generation of stars and prolonged their careers beyond 10 years, but new-age actresses have no such luxury and their shelf-life is drastically declining and causing more heart-burn and depression among the present-day divas.

Coming to leading directors who delivered blockbusters four or five years ago, they also believe that superstars are still available for them, but it is no more the case.

As big stars always like to work with directors who are most-happening at the moment, rather than with the ones who gave hits many years ago, they sideline them as dead horses.

Even though, drug scandal dented the image of Telugu filmdom, it has brought the ‘spotlight’ back on a bunch of insecured and weak-minded actors and directors who abused drugs to keep themselves alive in their minds, disconnected as they are from the outside world, thereby causing lot of pain and agony to their families.

All that glitters is not gold and stardom is momentary and could end any time, leaving one a face in the crowd once again.