‘No special shows’: Bleak future for big-budget films in Telugu film industry?

Telangana government’s decision to stop special shows and ticket price hikes is likely to hit the BO collections for movies making it difficult for filmmakers to recover their investments

The tragic incident of a stampede at Sandhya theatre on December 4, leading to the death of a 37-year-old woman and asphyxiation of her eight-year-old son Sri Tej – who is currently undergoing treatment in a city hospital, has been grabbing headlines over the past few days, not just in Telangana but also across the nation.

The incident, which took place during the premiere show of Allu Arjun’s ‘Pushpa: The Rule’ screening, led to the arrest of the south actor who was later granted an interim bail.

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During the Assembly session today (December 21), the Congress Government brought up the issue and added a surprising twist to the ‘sops’ story of the Telugu film industry. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy took a hard stand stating

that there will be no benefit shows, and no ticket price hikes in Telangana anymore. The decision, spoken about at length by Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, seems to be triggered by the said incident.

With this announcement, confusion prevails in the Telugu film industry as the future of many big-budget films lined up for Sankranti looks bleak. Filmmakers of big-ticket movies with huge stars and budgets that run into hundreds of crores of rupees usually try to recover their investment within the first few days by grabbing maximum shows/screens in theatres, hiking the ticket prices, and organising special/benefit/premiere shows.

But the government’s decision to not let any of these tactics going forward, the collections at the box-office are going to take a hit. Let’s take a look at the big-budget movies set to release in the next few months.

Game Changer: Ram Charan, who has gained global recognition post ‘RRR’, is headlining the movie being made on a massive scale. Bollywood diva Kiara Advani has been roped in to play the leading lady. The makers have been raising the audiences’ expectations with frequent updates, and release of songs and teasers. Scheduled to release on January 10, as the first Sankranti offering, it is being made on a whopping budget of Rs 450 crore.

Daaku Maharaj: Another big-budget film that’s part of the Sankranti race is Nandamuri Balakrishna’s NBK 109, now titled ‘Daaku Maharaj’. Readying for release on January 12, the movie boasts a stellar cast including actors like Dulquer Salmaan, Bollywood actor and ‘Animal’ fame Bobby Deol, and Prakash Raj, besides Payal Rajput. It’s rumoured that the movie has a budget exceeding Rs 100 crore.

Sankranthiki Vasthunnam: Known for his family-oriented roles and movies, Victory Venkatesh is considered a bankable star who has given major hits in the recent years including ‘F2’, ‘F3’, ‘Drishyam’ and ‘Drishyam 2’, among others. His latest outing is slated to release on January 14, as part of the Sankranti line-up.

Thandel: Starring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi in the lead roles, ‘Thandel’ is another anticipated film to hit the theatres on February 7. The on-screen chemistry between the lead pair in their earlier film, ‘Love Story’, was much talked about, raising the expectations for the upcoming movie. But will they be able to recreate magic and bring audiences to the theatres needs to be seen.

Hari Hara Veera Mallu: This highly-anticipated epic period drama of power star Pawan Kalyan has been in the making for a few years now. Owing to PK’s political career, the movie’s shoot has been affected, leading to much delay. Being made on a budget of around Rs 200 crore, the movie is power star’s first film after his election to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. But, without concessions and benefits, will the movie stand a chance to recover the money? We will get to see on March 28 when the movie releases.

Vishwambhara: Another movie from the mega family, featuring the megastar Chiranjeevi himself in the lead, ‘Vishwambhara’ is gearing up for a release in March 2025. The fantasy action film, written and directed by Mallidi Vassishta and produced by UV Creations, is made on a budget of over Rs 350 crore. The film boasts an ensemble cast including known names like Trisha Krishnan, Bollywood actors Janhvi Kapoor and Kunal Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur and Meenakshi Chaudhary, among others.

The Raja Saab: With ‘Darling’ Prabhas in the lead role, ‘The Raja Saab’ is being made on a Rs 400 crore budget. Bollywood biggie Sanjay Dutt is cast in a major role in this horror comedy film which is set to hit the big screens on April 10. Malavika Mohanan, Riddhi Kumar and Nidhhi Agerwal are also part of the upcoming project. After the stupendous success of Prabhas’s pan-India film ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, audiences have huge expectations from this one.

Besides these, there are other movies like VD12, starring Vijay Deverakonda, and ‘L2:Empuran’, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal’s much-anticipated sequel to the superhit movie ‘Lucifer’, among a few others, are also gearing up to hit the silver screens. However, in the current scenario, post the announcement by Telangana CM, how many of these films will be able to break even and move into the profits zone, only time will tell.