Tollywood going through rough patch again; theaters hardly see audience

In February 2024, Tollywood cinematic landscape witnessed a series of disappointments, with many releases turning into disasters. Movies such as Bootcut Balaraju, Yatra 2, Eagle, Laal Salaam, Rajadhani Files, Sundaram Master, Siddharth Roy, Masth Shades Unnayi Ra, and several others faced difficulties recovering their budgets and remained far from reaching the break-even point.

 Notably, Ravi Teja's  and Rajinikanth's Laal Salaam emerged as the major letdowns of the month. Despite Eagle's promising start, negative word of mouth proved fatal for the film, leading to its downfall. Laal Salaam, featuring Rajinikanth, faced a similar fate, failing to attract even the minimum footfalls, marking a significant setback for the renowned actor.

However, amidst the disappointments, Suhas Ambajipeta Marriage Band, the debut film directed by Dushyanth Katikaneni and starring Shivani Nagaram, managed to break the trend. This film garnered positive reviews from its inception, securing decent collections and achieving the break-even point, making it the sole success story of the month.

On the other hand, Sundeep Kishan's Ooru Peru Bhairavakona provided a glimmer of hope with a decent first week, standing out as one of the few impressive films in February. Nevertheless, out of nearly 20 releases during the month, most struggled to capture the audience's interest, resulting in a lackluster performance at the box office.

Coming to March, till date, only Gaami is the film that managed to keep the box office collection running besides Premalu the Malayalam film which got dubbed and released in Telugu. While Sree Vishnu's Om Bheem Bush which hits the screens on today and is receiving good response, all eyes are on Siddhu Jonnalagadda's Tillu Suqare which is slated for release on March 29th as of now. The industry hopes for a more favorable response from audiences in the upcoming month, seeking redemption from the setbacks experienced in February.