Adivi Sesh, Naveen Polishetty and Siddhu Jonnalagadda are truly special among today’s Telugu heroes. They are not just actors but also creators who involve themselves deeply in story selection, screenplay, dialogues and execution.
In many of their films, the director’s presence feels secondary, though these actors give them the credit as director.
Adivi Sesh is a talented actor and creator who focuses more on content-rich films than on showing off heroism.
Even when heroism is present, it stays within the limits of the genre and the mood of the film.
Another big advantage is that producers like working with him because he keeps costs under control and avoids unnecessary or ego-driven spending.
He understands what a film requires and allows expenses only to that extent.
He respects producers, values their feedback, and is not strongly opinionated, which is why producers happily work with him again.
Siddhu Jonnalagadda is different. After the massive success of DJ Tillu, he believed that audiences wanted to see him only in that particular style.
He continued with similar dialogue delivery, lengthy monologues and dominant personal style rather than focusing on narrative depth. His strong emphasis on romance and youth-centric appeal has started to feel repetitive.
Targeting only youth with romance stuff, is risky because their tastes change quickly.
On top of that, he has been doing too many films in a short time, compromising script refinement, which has led to flops.
Among the three, he is the one facing more setbacks. His off-screen womanizer image, whether from films or gossip, has also affected perception.
However, a positive aspect is that Siddhu does not interfere in production costs and leaves financial decisions to producers, while ensuring quality control. That makes producers open to working with him.
Naveen Polishetty’s approach is entirely different. He focuses on entertaining a wider audience, not just youth.
He takes a long time to write and develop scripts, which explains the long gaps between his films. He is not very concerned about production costs and is extremely firm about his creative decisions.
He strongly sticks to what he believes is right and does not easily compromise. Because of this, producers and even technicians feel that working with him is not an easy journey.
It is not that his films incur losses, as they usually bring profits, but the process gives no enjoyment to the producers.
That's the reason, same producers don't really love to work again with him as they feel themselves dummy.
But there are many new producers who line up for him, considering his spotless track record.