HYDERABAD: The last two months have witnessed a dry spell at the Tollywood box office with over 20 films failing to set the cash registers ringing. While Jr NTR-starrer Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava mopped up Rs 100 crore gross and offered some hope to collections, the trend didn’t continue with Hello Guru Prema Kosame, Bhale Manchi Chowka Beram, Bangari Balaraju, Veera Bhoga Vasantha Rayalu and Ratham. With 2018 coming to an end, over 20 films, big and small, are hitting the screens this November and December.
The industry sources estimate that there will be around Rs 400 crore at stake in the last two months of this year.
November 2 will see the release of Naga Chaitanya’s Savyasachi. Directed by Chandoo Mondeti, the action drama is about Vanishing Twin Syndrome, in which one of the twins disappears in the early stage of pregnancy and the disappeared fetal tissue is absorbed by the other twin.
Although the film does not have any external competition in the form of other big releases, nevertheless, Chandoo is feeling the pressure on the eve
of release.
“I’m quite tensed as to see how the audience reacts to our film. The film has an interesting premise and we made all best efforts to make it a wholesome entertainer. Besides Naga Chaitanya and Niddhi Agerwal, Savyasachi also features Madhavan and Bhumika in pivotal roles. The audience have high expectations on our film and I hope to live up to the reputation,” says Chandoo Mondeti.
The lineup in November also includes films like Adhugo, Mithai, Kobbari Matta, 24 Kisses, Bluff Master, Husharu, Shubhalekhalu, Bhairava Geetha, Subrahmanyapuram, Vijay Deverakonda’s much-awaited super-natural comedy thriller Taxiwala and Rajinikanth-starrer 2.0.
“It’s an exciting lineup and the makers are expected to do good business. It’s a trend where we see big and small films vying for box office supremacy. The first and second quarters of 2018 have been really good with the films like Bhaagamathie, Chalo, Tholi Prema, Rangasthalam, Mahanati, Bharat Ane Nenu and Sammohanam faring exceedingly well. Then we had RX 100 followed by Goodachari and Geetha Govindam which regaled the audience with its soothing melodies and entertainment. Overall the business has been average,” says K Deepak, a trade analyst.
He maintains that the success of some of these films isn’t indicative of how movies coming out in the next two months will fare. “The makers are splurging in crores to market their films on digital and other platforms. The big budget films always carry good buzz owing to their crazy combinations and the small films should necessarily rely on their content. The promos of some of the upcoming releases seem promising and people also have high expectations of them,” adds Deepak.
This period will also see the release of Amar Akbar Antony, which reunites the successful combination of Ravi Teja and Ileana D’Cruz. Coming December 21, three films are getting ready to battle it out at the box office. Antariksham 9000KMPH, Yatra and Padi Padi Leche Manasu would all be vying for the market share and interestingly, all the films belong to different genres and are carrying good pre-release buzz among trade circles.
On whether these box office clashes are really a thing to worry about, Antariksham 9000KMPH producer Rajeev Reddy with his unflinching faith explains, “For the record, we were the first ones to announce the release date on December 21. A few days later, we got to know that they were planning to release their films on the same date. I think two-three films can release on the same day and survive. Adding to that, all three films belong to different genres and they are meant for a different set of audiences. So the box office clash doesn’t really decide the fate of a film as people are willing to watch more films during long-weekends.”
In contrast, Mahi V Raghav, the director of Yatra says that the clash would affect the collections. “The collections will definitely get affected as films will cut into each other’s revenues. However, the business is built on the concept of demand and supply and those who get good screen count will release their films. Movie buffs look forward to long weekends, Christmas holidays and New Year as several big movies are released during this time.
As long as the entertainment perspective is concerned, despite some difficulties, it’s good to have a slew of films releasing around the same time,” feels Raghav. The director adds that they were keen on releasing Yatra before the general elections to avoid violations of the model code of conduct. “We think December 21 is an ideal date to release our film as it will be an arduous task to get theatres during Sankranthi. Even if we try to release our film post Sankranthi, the model code of conduct may come into effect in the poll-bound Andhra Pradesh and it may lead to several problems considering the genre of our film,” reasons Raghav.
Even though one couldn’t guess who will emerge as a winner, but surely movie buffs have a lot to discuss in the coming days.