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In the last 25 years, T-town superstars introduced their sons to the industry and many of the lineage stars won audience appreciation instantly, while a bunch of others found their success, second time around. For instance, stars like Nagarjuna (Vikram), Venkatesh (Kaliyuga Pandavalu), son of filmmaker Ramanaidu, kick-started their innings with a bang, whereas Balakrishna, son of thespian NTR, had to contend with two flops including Sahasame Jeevitham, before delivering a blockbuster Mangammagari Manavudu. Likewise, even the third generation actors from iconic families had their share of hits and misses.

Pavan Kalyan, Chiranjeevi’s brother, drew good openings for his debut film Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi (1996) but registered a genuine hit with Gokulamlo Seetha. Similarly, NTR Jr began his innings as a hero with a dud (Ninnu Choodalani in 2001) but proved that he is star material with runaway hit Student No 1.

Now it’s Naga Chaitanya’s turn. He scored a hit with Ye Maya Chesave after a not-so-impressive debut with Josh. Does he think that Ye Maya Chesave, would have
been his ideal debut? “I don’t think so, because I could do a realistic film like Ye Maya… only after doing a commercial film like Josh. It was also designed differently as it was supposed to showcase different shades of me. Invariably, comparisons arise but actually Josh garnered more overseas collections,” says, the scion of the Akkineni family.

Similarly, Ram Charan Tej, son of Chiranjeevi, drew openings for Chirutha but attained superstardom with recordbreaking hit Magadheera. The average performance of his debut film was mainly because it focused more on gloss than content, and on exhibiting his dancing skills. “It was specifically designed that way to showcase my various skills. But still, no regrets since it was an ideal launch pad at that point of time,” he said.

In contrast, his contemporaries like Mahesh (Rajakumarudu), Allu Arjun (Gangotri), Ram (Devadas), Rana (Leader), had a smoothsailing right from the beginning, barring Prabhas who struggled before big success Varsham catapulted him to the big league.
However, Ram, kin of top producer Ravi Kishore, recounts the tense moments, he underwent post the release of Devadas. “The film didn’t take off in the first two weeks giving us some jitters but gradually picked up to celebrate its silver jubilee. Of course, a debutant will pin big hopes on his maiden film since a lot is at stake for him. I am fortunate to get such an overwhelming response,” says Ram.