Besides shattering records, 'RRR' signals altered power equations in Tollywood

Images of the protagonists in the latest box-office super hit 'RRR' tell a great story of friendship on the big screen.

In real life too, the Tollywood actors Jr NTR and Ram Charan are winning hearts for their friendship bordering on bromance.

On several occasions during the run-up to the movie's release and after that too, the camaraderie between the two star actors, scions of two of the most powerful Tollywood clans, have touched a chord with the people. It looks like their friendship spans several years at least.

But nothing could be farther from the truth. A couple of years ago, it would have been impossible to imagine seeing the two stars in the same frame, let alone a three-hour-long multi-star blockbuster! In fact, Jr NTR confessed as much in some of his media interactions.

It was a trend that symptomised the deep divisions in Tollywood for many years. Where stars refused to act in multi-starrers for fear of being overshadowed or offending the sentiments of their fans.

In recent years, however, the trend seems to be slowly but surely reversing. A few years ago, 'Seetamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu', a family entertainer starring Venkatesh and Mahesh Babu became a blockbuster. Then came 'Bahubali' where S.S. Rajamouli brought Prabhas and Rana Dagubatti together to the big screen. It was a casting coup of sorts for the director to get Rana play the antagonist. In more recent times, 'Bheemla Nayak' had Pawan Kalyan facing off with Rana on screen.