Chiru, Balayya set for clash at box-office

​Amaravati: Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should thank movie buffs since they overcome cash crunch with consummate ease. Even though various business sectors are facing the heat of note ban, Tollywood was not affected much, according to trade experts.

Now that prestigious movies of big heroes like Nandamuri Balakrishna's ‘Goutamiputra Sathakarni’ and Megastar Chiranjeevi’s ‘Khaidi No 150’ are set for Sankranti release, giving their fans a treat to cheer about for the festival season.

According to film trade reports, the distributors have come forward to buy movies for normal rates based on the trends of the last 50 days.

Chiranjeevi’s son Ramcharan movie ‘Druva’ was released a month ago and it recorded decent revenues. Even relatively small hero Nikhil's film ‘Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavaadaa’ movie also spun box office magic, despite getting released close to the date of note ban in November.

Buoyed by it, four movies are in Sankranti race without breaking the tradition of releasing films for biggest Telugu festival.

Actor Sharwanand’s ‘Sathamaanvam Bhavati’ and ‘Constable Venkataramiah’ starring R Narayana Murthy and Jayasudha are set to enthral movie buffs this festival season.

Nearly 2,000 theatres in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are bracing up for the festive season. Even though hundreds of theatres ran empty shows post demonetisation, traders are hoping to make up for the losses so far. While multiplexes screened films on limited screens, single theatres ran four shows despite poor collections.

After ‘Dhruva’ and ‘Ekkadi Pothavey...’ minting money, even Allari Naresh’s horror comedy ‘Intlo Deyaam Nakenti Bhayam’ is not bad, said Krishna District Exhibitors’ Association secretary T Sai Prasad.

“Sapthagiri Express starring comedian-turned-hero Sapthagari drew Rs 6 lakh collection in Sailaja theatre alone in Vijayawada in the last one week,” said Prasad.

According to an insider, Balakrishna’s ‘Gautamiputra...’ was bought by distributors for ‘hefty sums’. Sharing details about the big bang release of megastar’s comeback movie, Geeta Arts Distribution manager Jonnalagadda Laxmana Rao said that it would be released in nearly 90 theatres as usually in Krishna district to draw maximum openings during this 3-day festival.

“Demonetisation hasn’t impacted the market and collections of star-studded movies to a large extent. Fortunately, film industry has overcome the currency crisis,” he concluded.