The year 2022 is half way through. Six months passed and now the half yearly report is out. The post pandemic time has seen the gush of big films at the box office and the saga continued till the first quarter of 2022.
It has been understood that the patronage of audiences at the theatres has been changed in the post pandemic times. However, some films were recorded as successful ventures though many have bitten the mud.
The performance of Telugu films at the box office can be discussed in three different parameters- Hits, Averages and Flops.
Hits:
The first six months of this year have seen some genuine hits with considerable profit to record. They are DJ Tillu, RRR, KGF2, Vikram, Major and F3. Out of these KGF2 is the biggest winner of all time making a huge margin of profit corresponding to its investment when compared to the other three films. The film, in spite of being a Sandalwood product, made its day in the Telugu regional centers, erasing some records set by Bahubali-2 as well.
After this, RRR is the film that made good fortune at the local box office though some buyers tasted loss in some centers. The overall result of this film can be considered a hit though the profit margin is not phenomenally big in comparison to the investment.
Then comed DJ Tillu, a small budget film that made reasonable collections and made some fortune of profit. The much anticipated F3 also lived up to the expectation at the box office.
Coming to Vikram, it became the highest grosser of all time in Tamilnadu, its native state, but also did well at the Telugu box office. Finally Adivi Sesh's 'Major' also made good profits with a decent talk at the theatres' level.
Average Films:
Then comes the average films like Bangarraju, Bheemla Nayak, Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam and Sarkaru Vaari Paata that made just a breakeven or a bearable loss.
Bangarraju stood up as a decent performer during the Sankranthi season while Rowdy Boys also tested its luck with the brand name of Dil Raju in the same festival season. After this, the film 'Bheemla Nayak' came up with a lot of hungana and hype but couldn't breakeven as per the official sources. The film lost about Rs 3 Cr which is in fact a bearable loss. The cost of production became the culprit though the collections were decent.
Then came the surprise film Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam. The publicity for this film is done in a reality show mode catching the attention before its release. The film received positive response but releasing it just one week before Sarkaru Vaari Pata proved to be a big blunder. The run of this film was stopped by Mahesh Babu's Sarkaru Vari Paata.
But even SVP couldn't make a breakeven. Again the cost of production and the reduced patronage of audiences at the theatres proved to be the culprits.
Flops:
Coming to the flops in the first half of 2022, there are many in number. These films made some sound before the release but ended up as disasters or failures either due to the insipid content or because of the audience not paying any attention.
The films include Rana's 1945, Ashok Galla's Hero, Rowdy Boys, Keerthy Suresh's Good Luck Sakhi, Ravi Teja's Khiladi, Aadavallu Meeku Joharlu, Sebastian PC 524 and Sammatame of Kiran Abbavaram, Radhe Shyam, Stand Up Rahul, Mishan Impossible. Ghani. Acharya, Bhala Thandanana, Shekar, Ante Sundarniki, Virata Parvam, Godse and Chor Bazaar.
Out of these, the films Chor Bazaar, Godse, Ghani, Stand Up Rahul and Good Luck Sakhi were proved to be the most unpalatable films of this season.
But the biggest shocks were given by the film Radhe Shyam, Acharya and Aadavallu Meeku Joharlu ended up as the colossal disasters. The kind of investment made on these films and the result at the box office has no match at all.
The second half of the year 2022 has begun with Pakka Commercial released on 1st July. The film proved to be a flop based on the first three days of collection and the talk surrounding it. We have to see what is in store for Tollywood in the coming six months.