It would tantamount to a lie if a Pawan Kalyan fan said that he was not thirsty for a hit. In fact, so (blood) thirsty are they that talk has already began about re-writing records set by Pokiri. Till the other day, it was all about re-writing Khushi’s records and rising above Khushi, thus, suggesting that they are thirsty for a hit, but this new attention to battle it out with Pokiri makes them blood thirsty.
There are several factors that must be considered before embarking on such expectations, which could ultimately harm the film. Every film of Pawan Kalyan, post Khushi, has been defeated by fans and their expectations. Jhonny was a well made art-like movie, Gudumba Shankar had all elements to be a decent winner, and same is the case with Balu. All the movies are fine and if they were watched for what they were worth they would have been termed a hit, but instead every film was subjected to the Khushi test. One must also remember that Pokiri released with no strings attached. It came, Mahesh Babu did a great and cool job, Puri Jagannath was blood thirsty to bounce back, and Illeana stole every man’s heart, the summer was clear with other movies not living up to the expectations (recall Bangaram) and so we had an all-time hit. Jalsa may well be a good movie in its own right, but what will be left of it if it is compared to Khushi and Pokiri? This recurring cycle of unreasonable expectations on Pawan Kalyan films, I feel, is sometimes the work of anti-fans. This is again my speculation, but the truth is anti-fans do not need to do this for Pawan Kalyan’s films, his own fans will begin their first day of the movie with not-upto-Khushi-range talk and then on the fourth day will start supporting the film. Too late by then.
Let me divert your attention to the US Presidential campaign. There are states where to select the party nomination, any body can vote (open states) and where only registered party members vote. Thus, in open states non-party members will vote for the weaker candidate to strengthen their candidate. This phenomenon also happens in Tollywood when anti-fans see movies on first day and start spreading rumors (if the movie is weak). Imagine how the situation would be if only registered fans of the hero were allowed to watch the movie the entire first two weeks, or at least the first week.
Moving on, the onus to make Jalsa a hit was always on Trivikram’s story. It was known to all that Pawan Kalyan will do his bit—his presence is enough to create a stir and hype. Devi Sri Prasad has done above and beyond this job and his music has only fuelled the craze and hype surrounding the film. We also know that Pawan Kalyan will be great in the movie and so will the production values, but what will ultimately matter is Trivikram, the story, plot, and the characterizations. For the movie to rise above Khushi, fans must be so much in awe of the final product that Khushi should soon be history.
Given the number of prints, theaters, advance booking, curiosity and hype, Jalsa is all set to embark on a historic journey at the box-office, but unfortunately the immaturity of Chiranjeevi-Pawan Kalyan fans might just (again) work against the movie. I hope that Jalsa will be seen just for what it is and not be compared to any other movie. If the story is in the right place, given the sensational music and power presence of Pawan Kalyan it will show Tollywood not only what Pawan Kalyan’s Power is, but will also redefine and reinforce the stamina of Tollywood.
