Tamil star Suriya ratings dented in Telugu states?
Tamil star Suriya’s much-hyped film ‘Kanguva’ is losing steam at the box office in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The tribal warrior story has reportedly managed to garner Rs 8 to 9 crores in Telugu states but it is witnessing drop in collections and also suffered a lot of trolling on social media. No doubt, Suriya has promoted the film aggressively among Telugu audiences and will this poor show affect his brand image? “I don’t think it will affect his ratings since he has gained a good image with his body of work from ‘Ghajini’ to ‘Jai Bhim’. He is a very talented actor," says producer M S Raju who adds, “This kind of talk of a star losing his charisma and popularity keeps cropping up when one of his films fails to impress. One or two films may do well or not, but we cannot erase his previous works and his hard-earned respect,” he adds.
In fact, Suriya had the best of guest list for his pre-release events from ace director S S Rajamouli, Boyapati Srinu and to new-age stars like Siddhu Jonallagadda and Vishwak Sen who praised him to the skies and graced the events. "These days, pre-release events are key for Tamil or Telugu stars since drawing audiences to theatres has become tad difficult. Multiple events with star guests would create some buzz in the industry as well as among viewers and they would eventually reflect in good openings. Star-studded movies truly rely on sensational openings since a lot of money is at stake and definitely Suriya went all out and promoted his film quite well in Telugu states and he has done a good job at it,” he points out.
But the film didn’t reflect in openings collections and just managed to made Rs 8 to 9 crore and long way to go and cover its Rs 25 crore plus investment in Telugu states, “I was out of town for two weeks, so I didn’t follow the box office figures so I avoid commenting on it,’ he cuts short.