After An eventful 2023, where Tollywood saw its films gaining global fame (Oscars) and achieving other memorable successes, the industry is now looking forward to a great and exciting start to 2024. With several top stars scheduling their films releases, Tollywood is betting big on the new year.
Festive mania
What’s Sankranti without films? This year a slew of big-ticket releases have been lined up for the festival. First in the race is Mahesh Babu-starrer Guntur Kaaram, perhaps the biggest release of the season. Billed as a mass action drama, the Trivikram Srinivas directorial has amassed huge expectations, and the recently released promo songs have heightened the anticipation.
Traditionally, Sankranti has been a happy hunting ground for Mahesh Babu. He delivered some of his biggest hits, like Okkadu, Takkari Donga, Businessman, Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu and Sarileru Neekevvaru during the festival. The superstar has high hopes for Guntur Kaaram.
Nagarjuna’s Naa Saami Ranga, Venkatesh’s Saindhav and Ravi Teja-starrer Eagle have also been scheduled for release. These heroes too have had some success during Sankranti and are once again trying their luck during the holiday season. Although these three are established stars, they are looking for some redemption and to consolidate their position in the industry.
“The beauty of Sankranti is that the festival can accommodate more than 5 releases. It has happened in the past too. With all the films eyeing wider releases, finding theatres could be a problem though. Also, the revenue could be split among several releases. Nonetheless, it’s that time of the year when audiences love to flock to theatres,” says a film distributor.
Pan-India films
As regional barriers are being blurred, many stars have taken to making Pan-India films. Stars who have missed the bus in 2023 are coming out with all guns blazing.
Fans, industry, trade and the audience are eagerly looking forward to Jr NTR-starrer Devara-Part 1. The film will hit the screens in April and the actor is looking to compensate for the fact that he didn’t have a release last year. The Koratala Siva directorial also features Janhvi Kapoor to woo the Hindi audience. Moreover, since Jr NTR is also starring in War 2 alongside Hrithik Roshan, Devara has good prospects in the Hindi too.
Pushpa 2 is another film which audiences and critics are eagerly awaiting. The Allu Arjun-starrer has managed to get nationwide attention, after the first part was a magnificent success. Furthermore, Allu Arjun winning the National Award for his performance in the first part has made the country sit up and take notice of his acting prowess. The action entertainer is set for an August release and director Sukumar is taking a lot of care to bring out a superior product.
Ram Charan doesn’t want this year to be a blank like last year. His film Game Changer, directed by Shanmugam Shankar, will release this year.
Kalki 2898 AD attracted global attention after the film’s promotional material was released at ComiCon last year. Director Nag Ashwin is going all out to target a global audience. The film’s interesting genre — futuristic sci-fi — has generated excitement. With an ensemble cast, Kalki will set new records at the box office. According to trade analyst Joginder Tuteja, considering that these Pan-India films have ensemble casts, including Bollywood stars, they have great prospects at the box office. He adds that the year is surely going to be exciting for South cinema in the Hindi belt.
Films like Family Star, headlined by Vijay Deverakonda, Operation Valentine, starring Varun Tej, Adivi Sesh’s Goodachari 2, Naga Chaitanya’s Thandel, and Chiranjeevi’s and Balakrishna’s films have generated a lot of buzz. They too are expected to be money-spinners at the box office in 2024.
According to trade analyst Joginder Tuteja, considering that these Pan-India films have ensemble casts, including Bollywood stars, they have great prospects at the box office. He adds that the year is surely going to be exciting for South cinema in the Hindi belt. “If these films can manage to make a reasonably good impact with their content, the collections are going to be huge, given the cast. Moreover, their directors have a high reputation and enjoy the trade’s confidence too. So it’s going to be exciting year,” says Joginder.
The beauty of Sankranti is that the festival can accommodate more than 5 releases. It has happened in the past too. With all the films eyeing wider releases, finding theatres could be a problem though. Also, the revenue could be split among several releases. Nonetheless, it’s that time of the year when audiences love to flock to theatres,” says a film distributor.
High-profile launches
Here are some other big and exciting Tollywood projects to be launched in 2024:
SSMB29 (Mahesh Babu and Rajamouli’s film)
Spirit (Prabhas and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s film)
#NTR31 (NTR and Prashanth Neel’s film
#RC16 (Ram Charan and Buchi Babu’s film)
#AlluArjun–Trivikram’s film
