Sankranthi: Telugu Stars Set for Box Office Clash with ₹500 Crore at Stake

Veteran producer M S Raju says that watching movies during the Sankranthi festival has become a part of the ritual of 4-days festivities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “Telugu audience would be in a celebratory mood in their towns and villages and enjoying a new movie with friends and family has become part of their celebrations in the two Telugu states,” says M S Raju and adds, “People from cities catch up trains, buses, and cars and rush to their hometowns and some even take extra one or two days leaves and chill out with their families over sumptuous lunch and traditional rituals and rejuvenate themselves after working under lot stress in cities,” he adds.

Yet again, stars like Balakrishna, Ram Charan, and Venkatesh are set to clash at ticket windows this Sankranthi with their film ‘Game Changer’, ‘Daaku Maharaj’ and ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’ to be released from January 10 to 14 and more than Rs 500 crore at stake this festival. “The stakes are higher this time and makers are confident about recovering it. Big stars clashing at ticket windows have become a norm over the years and is quite inevitable. Of course, releasing films during Pongal has an edge, and even films with mixed responses could do well sometimes. Apart from die-hard fans superstars, even normal audiences would go berserk in theatres and whistle and clap and revel in the theatre atmosphere at this festival,” he points out.

Interestingly, M S Raju has delivered blockbusters like ‘Okkadu’, ‘Varsham’, and ‘Nuvvu Vastanante Ne Vadantana’ during the farmers’ festival. “Along with youth and masses, even families and children would like to watch a movie in theatres and I have tasted success with their patronage during festivals. Festival crowds revive the spirits of distributors and exhibitors since their theatres would be brimming with crowds and wear a festive look. Enjoying movies in theatres is a kind of unique social experience and the euphoria around it, can’t be replaced by another mode, which footfalls at theatres remind us of every time,” he concludes.