2021: Some hits and few misses

Hyderabad: While the pandemic-induced lockdown pushed the film industry into a lull in 2020, the fear of Covid-19 had the industry in its grip even in the ensuing year, 2021. The noise actually began at the fag-end of the year 2021 with Nandamuri Balakrishna-starrer ‘Akhanda’ surprisingly doing well at the box office, giving hat-trick hit […]

Hyderabad: While the pandemic-induced lockdown pushed the film industry into a lull in 2020, the fear of Covid-19 had the industry in its grip even in the ensuing year, 2021.

The noise actually began at the fag-end of the year 2021 with Nandamuri Balakrishna-starrer ‘Akhanda’ surprisingly doing well at the box office, giving hat-trick hit for the Balayya-Boyapati combo. The action entertainer featuring Balayya in the role of an Aghora has collected Rs 115 crore gross and the momentum continued further, until Allu Arjun-starrer ‘Pushpa’ hit the screens recently. The Sukumar directorial grossed Rs 150 crore in all centres, including overseas collections in a very little span. Amidst raging controversy surrounding the low-ticketing prices in theatres of Andhra Pradesh, ‘Pushpa’ continues its streak in wooing the audiences.

2021 has seen some hits and a few misses for Telugu filmmakers. Vaishnav Tej and Krithi Shetty-starrer ‘Uppena’ gave a much-needed hope when it was released in February this year. However, Ravi Teja’s ‘Krack’ had just been released with meagre footfalls. It was ‘Uppena’ that attracted film buffs to theatres in large numbers. The Devi Sri Prasad’s musical ‘Uppena’ went on to give a break to all three debutants Krithi, Vaishnav Tej and director Buchi Babu Sana. While ‘Krack’ managed to settle for Rs 70 crore gross. ‘Uppena’ entered the Rs 100 crore club.

When the funny trio triumphed…

Then came Naveen Polishetty-starrer ‘Jathi Ratnalu’ to tickle the funny bones of Telugu audiences. Opening with meagre collections amidst mixed reviews from critics, the KV Anudeep directorial surprisingly made big strides as weeks rolled by. The film earned producer Nag Ashwin a record collection of Rs 100 crore at the box office. The dumb on-screen characters, played by Priyadarshi, Rahul Ramakrishna and Naveen Polishetty, have become the major crowd pullers in theatres.

‘Vakeel Saab’, which was released in April amidst high expectations from audiences, changed the fortunes for actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan who was already looking for a big break on the silver screen. The film gave a renewed hope for other players amidst the growing fears of Covid-19 second wave. ‘Vakeel Saab’ went on to collect Rs 130 crore gross at the box office.

And then the industry fell back again. After a brief hiatus, Sai Pallavi and Naga Chaitanya’s romantic drama ‘Love Story’ was released amidst high expectations and went on to gross Rs 58 crore. Audiences, who have been waiting for Sekhar Kammula to unravel some magic on-screen, couldn’t stop their excitement to watch the film. The hit number ‘Saranga Dariya’ stood out to be the major highlights in the romantic drama. While the big brother’s ‘Love Story’ (both reel and real) made it to the headlines, the younger Akkineni lad Akhil’s film ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’ has tried to make some noise at the last minute. The Pooja Hegde-starrer collected Rs 50 crore gross.

Why some films didn’t click…

It’s not just the hits that mattered, some films that have released with high expectations tanked miserably, while some made filmmakers ponder over their work. Here are some films that proved costly for both actors and makers.

Ram Pothineni-starrer ‘Red’ and Bellamkonda Srinivas’s ‘Alludu Adhurs’ fell early without much ado. Although Pradeep Machiraju made everyone croon to the hit number in ‘30 Rojullo Preminchadam Ela’, the story failed miserably when the film was released. ‘Zombie Reddy’ and Nithiin-starrer ‘Check’ also walked home with mixed talk this year.

Giving theatres a run for their money

For some low-budget small films, 2021 gave a ray of hope. While the dilly-dallying of the big players created some space for small films to chip in and show some courage in theatres, most of them opted for OTT platforms amidst uncertainty.

OTT hasn’t just proved to be an alternative to cinema, but the streaming players available in the market have also been giving theatres a run for their money. OTT releases sparked protests from film exhibitors prompting them to stop screening films if producers release them in OTTs.

This, again, made filmmakers go slow (and smooth), avoiding friction. However, OTTs managed to bag some big prestigious projects this year, giving the makers enough returns amidst Covid fears looming large over the film releases.

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