With biggies lined up for Sankranthi no notable films were released during the first week of January.
Kannada dubbed Athade Srimannarayana was the only movie that made some buzz among the first week releases and it hasn't clicked with our audience. The hope of recreating the magic of KGF didn't come true for ASN.
Rajinikanth's Darbar kick started the Sankranthi season with a superb day 1, but couldn't go further because of weak content. Murugadoss has once again fumbled with his mass masala formula that Darbar has ended up as a big failure in Tamilnadu too.
The first biggie of the year Sarileru Neekevvaru opened with a bang at the box office. It took a thunderous opening on its day 1 all over, but the lacklustre content made it second fiddle to Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo that released on the consecutive day.
Thanks to Mahesh's superstardom and Sankranthi season, Sarileru Neekevvaru was able to become the highest grossing film for the Superstar. It couldn't create any Non-Baahubali records at the box office, though.
Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo that was expected to play second fiddle to Sarileru Neekevvaru, dominated the box office right from the word go.
It has gone past all existing Non-Baahubali records in all the territories and is still minting handsome shares in its fourth weekend.
The film reinstated Trivikram's status as the top director and has put Allu Arjun back in the reckoning. He is back in the race for numero uno position with an earth shattering success.
Kalyan Ram was very ambitious in pitting his Entha Manchivadavura against the biggies and has paid the price for doing so. The film ended up as a failure after opening well on its day 1.
Raviteja's disastrous streak continued as Disco Raja tanked at the box office. Ashwathama and Choosi Choodangane released on the last Friday of January and things don't look promising for both the movies.
Ashwathama couldn't even get upper hand on Sankranthi release AVPL that is into its fourth week now.
On a whole, it turned out to be a great start for Telugu Cinema this year. There is nothing like biggies clicking and living up to the expectations of the trade.
US box office that looked so out of shape last year is back to its previous state as the Sankranthi films grossed nearly $6 Million in USA and Canada.