Big Four actors of the previous generation of Tollywood are Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna, and Venkatesh. Two of these four have found their mojo, while Chiru and Nag need to get their consistent form back.
Venkatesh's stability is as strong as Balakrishna's. This is courtesy of his comedic streak, which Anil Ravipudi has been able to milk successfully. In his latest statement, Ravipudi stated that he would be collaborating with Venky on repeat. While making 8-10 films with Venky sounds far-fetched, it is evident that we can expect at least 2-3 more movies from the actor-director duo. Their combination has been in the minimum guarantee zone since F2. In the worst case, they won't be doing remakes or duds like Bholaa Shankar and Manmadhudu 2 in future.
There is a paucity of comedy entertainers in Telugu cinema. Most of the filmmakers are inept at pulling this genre. In fact, most of Ravipudi's contemporaries would be better off not making hilarious movies. And most of the top heroes are obsessed with action movies. This is the vacuum in which Venky and Ravipudi are operating.
Their latest outing, Sankranthiki Vasthunam, is performing solidly at the box office. Their future is cemented once and for all. Ravipudi can't hope to get the dates of superstars like Mahesh Babu, Prabhas and Allu Arjun for the foreseeable future. After making a film with Chiranjeevi, he will have to come back to either Venky or Nag. Since his kind of over-the-top genre doesn't suit Nag, Venky would be the perfect fit. Their strong partnership is not just an accident of history but a conspiracy of the universe.
