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Gear up for an epic battle of varied themes this Sankranthi

New-age star Ram Charan will take on seasoned stars Balakrishna and Venkatesh this Sankranthi festival. It would be an interesting clash to watch out for since fans of Mega and Nandamuri clan are elated and set to go berserk in theatres, while families and kids are ready to shore up the festival mood in theatres.

“Everyone along with me, wants to know who would emerge a winner. Already some would have placed bets on Ram Charan and Balakrishna in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and in the US too," admits producer Lagadapati Sridhar, who claims that ‘Game Changer’ has an edge over other films.

"Ram Charan was seen in varied looks and impressed his fans. Shankar relies on the clash between an IAS officer and a corrupt politician and harps on value-based administration. He ably blends social causes with richly-mounted songs and slam-bang action, like his previous blockbusters like 'Aparachitudu’ and 'Oke Okkadu'. Also, Ram Charan is returning to the big screen after five long years, his teaming up with the 'Robo' director has evoked additional interest,” he adds.

Similarly, Nandamuri Balakrishna has delivered a hat-trick of hits from ‘Akhanda’ to ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’ and returns with a desert adventure 'Daaku Maharaaj' being helmed by Bobby Koli. “Balakrishna is known for larger-than-life roles and he is seen in a new avatar as a dacoit. His horse-riding skills are well captured and few punchlines and a raunchy number have pepped up his fans and it looks to be a pakka commercial package with Bobby Deol essaying the fearless baddy role,” he informs.
He also gives equal weightage to the successful combination of Venkatesh and director Anil Ravipudi who delivered rocking comic capers like ‘F2’ and ‘F3’. ‘Venkatesh is known for his flair for comedy and this time, he is caught between his wife Aishwarya Rajesh) and ex-girlfriend(Meenakshi Choudhury). Hence, it looks to be a fun-centric family drama revolving around ex-cops and the best bet for the family audience along with other festival crowds, he points out.
In an interesting development, the makers of ‘Pushpa The Rule’ are going to release a ‘reloaded’ version with 20 minutes of new footage, set to arrive on January 11 to give new releases a tough time at the box office. “I don’t think so,” he says and adds, “New films will surely have an edge and people would love to spend their money on new ones.” He claims that star-studded movies have a ‘shelf-life’ of three or four weeks and anything after that is a bonus.
Of course, most of the Telugu audience would have watched the Red Sanders story and made it the biggest-grosser in Indian cinema. Maybe, if one film turns out to be an average grosser, then it would benefit Pushpa. Otherwise, 1000-odd theaters in two Telugu states would revel in new movies because festivals are about new clothes, delicacies, face-light to houses, and new kinds of rangolis to shore up the festive mood,” he explains.
On songs from ‘Game Changer’, ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’, and ‘Daaku Maharaaj’ clocking between 15 to 50 million views, he adds, “Songs have been appreciated and now, the content has to strike a chord, let us keep our fingers crossed,” he concludes.w
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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