Tollywood peer group to help young and restless

Shaken by the tragic suicide of actor Uday Kiran, the Telugu film fraternity is planning a peer support initiative, to provide counselling support to film folk battling depression and stress-related disorders. The likes of Lakshmi Manchu, RP Patnaik, Dasardh Kumar, Madhura Sreedhar, Gopimohan and Pragathi have joined hands to create an NGO to be named after the deceased star.
Music director turned filmmaker RP Patnaik, who was close to Uday Kiran, believes a peer group is the need of the hour. ���Showbiz is a very demanding industry where fluctuations in fortune can be drastic. While success can give a dizzying high, failure can leave you a mental wreck. Kaali Sudheer came up with the idea to start a foundation in the name of Uday Kiran to help actors, producers, technicians and extras who could be battling depression related issues. The idea is to have a platform that brings members from all walks in the film industry to share their experiences of dealing with success and failure,��� shares RP Patnaik.
Plans are afoot to rope in professionals as well to create a well-rounded mentoring service. ���A lot of youngsters enter the industry with stars in their eyes with no one to turn to for guidance. I just met a filmmaker who spent `50 lakh to make a film which he thinks will be a big hit and screened the movie to me. Whether it becomes a hit or not is another issue, but the success rates are so low in the industry and such youngsters have no support system to turn to for advice. We want to provide a support mechanism for everyone,��� adds Madhura Sreedhar.