Telugus, like Indians, like most post-colonial peoples, are figuring out their cultural memories even as they negotiate the present and the future. When Indian cinema has its real revivals, I believe it won’t just be Telugu or Marathi roots we will find though but a much longer saga.
The industry today is after all only three or four generations from the pioneers like Phalke, HM Reddy and others. If the first generation was deeply steeped in the ancient traditions of literature, theatre and music, and the subsequent ones less so, the present day seems to be seeing a return, stumbling sometimes, to the smells and tastes of the ancient through their creative (and perhaps commercial) instincts. That is my hope of return for us all, after the pain, after the exile.