Telugu cinema has been in the spotlight lately, even more than before, with SS Rajamouli’s RRR gaining international recognition. Even before the Baahubali films took the country by storm, Telugu action dramas got a new lease of life through their Hindi-dubbed versions on YouTube and TV channels. While these star vehicles and ‘mass entertainers’ gained more visibility, the Telugu film industry has also been producing many films on a smaller scale — slice-of-life films, crime comedies, comedy thrillers, and rom-coms that tell moving stories of ordinary people.
Here is a list of some of our favourite coming-of-age films made in Telugu in recent years — not just about children or adolescents, but also lost, aimless, and confused adults. While some of them may have a few minor flaws, they all tell heartwarming stories of people finding a purpose or passion, and ‘growing up’ even in the span of days sometimes. These are stories of personal growth in difficult situations, with a push from friends, family, and sometimes from within.
Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi (Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam, 2018)
This buddy comedy film is about four college friends with filmmaking ambitions, Vivek (Vishwak Sen), Karthik (Sai Sushanth Reddy), Kaushik (Abhinav Gomatam), and Uppi (Venkatesh Kakumanu). Their plans fall apart and they drift away over some differences. The film tells the story of how they rekindle their friendships and their filmmaking dreams.
Streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video
Chi La Sow (Rahul Ravindran, 2018)
Arjun (Sushanth) isn’t keen on getting married but his mother forces him to meet Anjali (Ruhani Sharma) on a date one night, as part of her matchmaking efforts. Arjun is reluctant and indecisive, while Anjali is a no-nonsense, independent woman with many responsibilities who is also emotionally vulnerable, and sees Arjun as childish. As the night progresses, we see how these strikingly different people are drawn together and make each other better and happier.
Streaming on Sun NXT
C/o Kancharapalem (Venkatesh Maha, 2018)
A heartwarming film about love, loss, grief, faith, adolescence, aging, and a hundred other things, this film about four romances between two school kids, twenty-somethings, thirty-somethings, and a middle-aged couple is a tender rollercoaster of emotions.
Streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video
Brochevarevarura (Vivek Athreya, 2019)
In this crime comedy, Rahul (Sree Vishnu), Rocky (Priyadarshi), and Rambo (Rahul Ramakrishna) are three aimless last-benchers who just can’t leave high school as they keep failing their exams. When Mithra (Nivetha Thomas), their principal’s daughter, comes to the school, the four of them become good friends. In trying to help Mithra get away from a hostile home environment and pursue her dreams, they face hurdles that force all of them to ‘grow up’ a little.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Ninnila Ninnila (Ani IV Sasi, 2021)
Dev (Ashok Selvan) moves to London to work as a chef at a restaurant where Tara (Ritu Varma) also works. While the head chef is a stickler for accuracy and Tara too is an adamant rule-follower, Dev has his whimsical ways of cooking. This romantic comedy tells a story of companionship and intimacy and of healing people’s childhood trauma and grief.
Streaming on Zee5
Raja Raja Chora (Hasith Goli, 2021)
Bhaskar (Sree Vishnu) is a thief leading a triple life, lying to his wife Vidya (Sunaina) and girlfriend Sanjana (Megha Akash) all the time. Stuck in a cat-and-mouse game with a police officer who also happens to be Sanjana’s uncle, as his relationships too become complicated, Bhaskar is forced to reevaluate his life of crime and deception.
Streaming on Zee5
Nootokka Jillala Andagadu (Rachakonda Vidya Sagar, 2021)
Gotti Surya Narayana/GSN (Srinivas Avasarala) wears a wig as he is extremely conscious about his baldness. When he meets and falls for Anjali (Ruhani Sharma), he has to learn to let go of his insecurities.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Saakini Daakini (Sudheer Varma, 2022)
Shalini (Nivetha Thomas) and Damini (Regina Cassandra) are two women from different backgrounds with different personalities, who go from being rivals to friends while undergoing training at a police academy. While neither of them is very competent or interested in the job, they inadvertently get drawn into an unofficial crime investigation that tests their abilities.
Streaming on Netflix
Mishan Impossible (Swaroop RSJ, 2022)
Three teenagers, Raghupathi (Harsh Roshan), Raghava (Bhanu Prakashan), and Rajaram (Jayateertha Molugu) run away from home with plans of capturing wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim for the reward money. They fall into the clutches of a child trafficking ring and are forced to actually use their childish, impractical bravado to get out of dangerous situations.
Streaming on Netflix
Oke Oka Jeevitham (Shree Karthick, 2022)
In this science fiction drama, three friends, Adhi (Sharwanand), Seenu (Vennela Kishore), and Chaitu (Priyadarshi), who are unhappy with how their lives have turned out decide to take a time machine back to their childhood to change the course of their lives. They have to contend with how much they can and cannot change, and face questions of whether different choices would have really made their lives better.
Streaming on SonyLIV
Balagam (Venu Yeldandi, 2023)
When Gajula Komurayya (Sudhakar Reddy), an elderly man living in a Telangana village, passes away, estranged family members are forced to come together and old tensions resurface. His grandson Sayilu (Priyadarshi) has had a string of failed business ventures and is in a lot of debt. He ends up torn between his own selfish motives and mourning for his grandfather amid the family chaos.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Pareshan (Rupak Ronaldson, 2023)
Isaac (Thiruveer) and his friends Paasha, Satthi, and RGV live in a village near Singareni Collieries. They spend their days and nights drinking and whiling their time away. Isaac’s father wants his son to take over his job at the coal mine so he can pursue his wish to work as a preacher. Isaac is a well-meaning, sensitive young man who is confused and uninterested in studies or the jobs his father wants him to do. He tackles problems with his father, his girlfriend Sireesha (Pavani Karanam), and his friends, and tries to meet everyone’s needs and expectations while not knowing what he wants for himself.
Yet to be released on OTT platforms