'The Romantics' is the title of a docuseries on Yash Chopra's filmography brought out by Netflix. For the past few days, the docuseries has become a talking point on social media, driven by Bollywood film media's reviews and eulogies. Yash Chopra's creative exploits are what 'The Romantics' is about. As film writer Arpita Chatterjee put it, the "docuseries tells the story of a nation, its people and an industry while looking at Yash Chopra through the eyes of friends and family."
Can Telugu OTT do something of this sort? A docuseries on the versatile filmography of K Raghavendra Rao would be an obvious choice. However, Telugu viewers might not find it exciting.
Aha Video, ZEE5 or even Disney Plus Hotstar can think about making a docuseries that highlights the creativity and imagination Telugu cinema is most known for: masala action films and their various sub-genres.
Just interviewing the likes of VV Vinayak, B Gopal and SS Rajamouli for redefining mass commercial cinema in the 2000s would make for a great start. Some of their family members, Co-Directors, Assistant Directors, writers can be interviewed to know what kind of thought process went into making trend-setting films like 'Samara Simha Reddy', 'Pokiri', 'Aadi' and 'Simhadri', among other movies.
