Star Heroes and Directors are taking years to come up with their next films

In recent times, we’ve observed that star heroes are taking longer to release their next films. For instance, Allu Arjun took nearly three years after his last release in December 2021. NTR’s next film came almost two years after *RRR*. Ram Charan’s *Game Changer* is expected in 2025. Most star heroes, except Prabhas, are taking years between films because they’re aiming for pan-India releases. It’s not easy to deliver such films, as they require strong stories, massive budgets, and the biggest challenge—finding the right director.

When we look at Tollywood’s directors, we have names like Rajamouli, Sukumar, Trivikram, Koratala Siva, and Nag Ashwin. Rajamouli, for instance, takes at least two years to finish a movie. He pioneered the path that many directors are now following. Sukumar also spent years completing *Pushpa*. Since heroes are targeting pan-India releases, they need these star directors. However, most directors, except for Trivikram, are tied up with ongoing projects, leaving heroes in a position where they either have to wait or work with less established directors.

Taking risks with lesser-known directors can be a hit or miss. Prabhas experienced setbacks with *Saaho* and *Radhe Shyam* when he chose relatively inexperienced directors. Of course, there's always a risk even with experienced directors, but the perceived risk is lower. The upside of making big films is the extended employment for many people over the course of a couple of years. If the film succeeds, it brings in significant revenue and creates more opportunities for the team involved, while also pushing the boundaries of Indian cinema with new concepts and stories.

However, this trend of making larger-than-life films comes with a downside—it reduces the number of films a hero and director can make over their careers. Most of the current star heroes are already in their early 40s. If they continue at this pace of doing one film every two years, we might only see 10 more films from them if they continue acting until their 60s. This is concerning, especially when we look at the previous generation of actors like Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Venkatesh, and Nagarjuna, who have hundreds of films under their belts. Not every film they made was great, but they entertained audiences with a variety of genres and kept experimenting.

I’m not sure if this generation of actors will have the same opportunities as their predecessors. While it’s commendable that they’re aiming for big films, they should also consider doing smaller films with different concepts and give chances to new directors. 

It would be great to see our heroes take on more projects before they retire.