Report: Tollywood's Festive Collection Dismal

Hyderabad: The Sankranti festival is usually a money-spinner for Tollywood filmmakers and distributors. This year it is different. The collection from three big films combined has not crossed the `10 crore mark in the first week.

According to industry sources, the three-day festival pulled in `21 crore in 2010 and `19 cores in 2009, which means that this year’s collection has dropped by 50 per cent.

The repetitive content of the films, the squeeze on farmers who make up much of the audience at this time, inflation and the cautious mood among fans are said to be the cause of the poor box-office takings.

If Arundhati alone grossed `11 crore in 2009 in the first week, Adurs swept the 2010 collections with `13 crore. In contrast, this season all the three releases — Param Veera Chakra, Mirapakai and Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu — have made far from record-breaking collections.

“New releases haven’t fared well because audiences want to be doubly sure before stepping into theatres. The screening of new films like Robo on TV during the festival also affected our viewership," says Mr Vijayender Reddy, president, Telangana Film Chambers of Commerce. The Sankranti festival has in the past made blockbusters of films such as Samarasimhareddy, Narasimhanaidu, Arundhati, Desamuduru, Samarasimhareddy, Varsham, and Nuvvu Vasthanante Nenoddantana. Producer Chintalapudi Srinivas blames the floods and inflation for the dip in viewership.

“Farmers form the major chunk of the audience during Sankranti but the recent floods have affected their livelihood. The spiralling cost of vegetables and groceries has diminished the purchasing power of lower and middle class viewers. Even die-hard fans seem to be adopting a wait and watch approach,” he says.

“The first audiences cause a lot of damage by SMSing reports of the films, while others make nasty remarks, which discourages fence-sitters. Thus, regular viewers are reluctant to spend `200 on what they are told is a bad film,” says Mr Srinivas, a distributor.

Source: Deccan

Can She Bank On Just Sexy Navel??

It is a common fact that for any heroine, the beauty of her navel always becomes a topic of discussion and her oomph is measured by the tempting taste of the beauty spot. However, that alone is not sufficient for gaining success and making a mark. Perhaps that is something Shruti Haasan must realize.

After watching the film ‘Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu’ the cine folks are discussing about her like this. Apparently, they say Shruthi has no muscle and though she has a juicy coin shaped navel and a fairly enticing hip, she must also have the right kind of oomph to generate that glamour and heat on the screen.

Some say that Shruthi is just like her mom Sarika who was a raging sex bomb during her time but that beauty didn’t take her far in the career. Given the legacy that Shruthi’s father has got, it is about time this pretty girl works on her roles and her round curves.

Lakshmi Prasanna On Edge Of Danger??

Just like the Telugu adage goes ‘Adhigo Puli Ante Idhigo Thoka’, many are praising Lakshmi Prasanna to the peak. They are using all sorts of adjectives to describe her acting as fabulous, marvelous, wonderful etc and getting her onto the tree. There is no qualm in saying that this might prove dangerous to Lakshmi Prasanna.

Because her performance in ‘Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu’ is alright but it is not matching the above adjectives. If the make up, graphics, etching of the character is removed then Lakshmi will barely manage passing marks. But then, if there is anything worth appreciating in the film then it is only Lakshmi Prasanna’s performance.

However, few cine seniors say that over hyping her performance would mean ruining her career so let us hope that Lakshmi Prasanna realizes that.

Sankranthi Report: Fate Of 4 Releases

The festival of Sankranthi is the most auspicious for the Telugu people and the culture is imbibed into the Tollywood circuit as well.

The cine folks believe that since it is the opening of the year, they feel that a good start to the box office will always lead to good results down the line. Therefore, they come up with the best of the big budget movies and want to be the first winners in the list.

Now, the Sankranthi for 2011 is complete and four films were in the race for top honors. Three out of the four were big banner and big star flicks while the fourth was more of a urban treat. So, here is a look at the fate of all the films now that the festival frenzy is over.

Parama Veera Chakra:This was the most hyped and much awaited film from Nandamuri Balakrishna. After the blockbuster hit of ‘Simha’, many expected Balayya to repeat the magic and the fact that this was also the 150th directorial venture of Dasari Narayana Rao added to the hype. However, the film turned out to be a colossal disaster at the box office.

Though Balayya did justice to his act, many blamed the weak handling by Dasari which resulted in the flop. A film which is reportedly made at Rs 20 crore budget is currently scrambling to touch even Rs 2 crores.

Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu:
A super hyped fantasy flick, the film had many highlights. It marked the debut of Shruti Haasan and Lakshmi Manchu in Telugu. It also welcomed the Hollywood giant Walt Disney into Telugu. Above all, this had Siddarth in an ambitious role of a warrior while the director if Kovelamudi Prakash, son of K Raghavendar Rao.  Despite so many plusses, the film still turned out to be a dud. Yet again, the cause for that is Prakash and his poor directorial abilities, said many.

Mirapakaya:
Mass maharaja Ravi Teja seems to be riding on luck somewhat. His earlier venture was ‘Don Seenu’ which scraped into a safe zone thanks to few external factors and the glamour of Shriya. This time, he has emerged to be the lucky winner once again. Though the film was not worthy of being given a pass mark, the poor performance of other two films and the crowd pulling factor of Ravi Teja worked the trick and reports say that the film is inching towards a commercial hit. This in a way, is relief to the box office.

Golconda High School:
The soft spoken hero Sumanth has arrived with an offbeat venture this time and this is the rather unconventional treat from director Indraganti Mohana Krishna of ‘Ashta Chemma’ fame. With cricket as the backdrop and sticking to the environment of the school like the title suggests, the film has got a mixed response. While few connected to the film very well on nostalgic grounds and love for cricket, few felt that it lacked the velocity and intensity to grip the audience. Overall, this is a clean film amidst the lot of masala flicks and with a message.

So folks, the Sankranthi season has given an overall disappointing result and now, the focus will be on the summer releases. Let us see if the heat picks up by then or not.

Siddarth's 'Boothulu' On Upset Fan!!

It is often said that Siddarth is a very talented and versatile actor but then he is also known for his arrogant attitude and headstrong nature. Perhaps that is one reason why his films are not clicking. Anyways, here is a reason why his attitude is becoming the problem.

Recently, a fan was commenting on Siddarth’s latest movie ‘Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu’ and he was bland in saying that Sidz was a minus to the film. Anyways, while such comments are common, it is the response from Siddarth that shook the chair out of many.

The hero shot off with profanity which read ‘Thoo Yedava…D&^*$^## Bey’ which was rather shocking to many of his fans. While his frustration is understood, it is about time Siddarth realizes that a behaviour is like this will not only damage his image but also his reputation among his fans. It is about time Sidz mends his ways…