In a matter of a couple of hours, Telugu cinema is ‘officially’ set for a clash of biggies head-on after a long time. It hasn’t happened in the recent past as there was always a small gap. We are reminded of the year 2001 in a way when three of the top four stars had a release.
The two films are Superstar Mahesh Babu starrer Sarileru Neekevvaru and Stylish Star Allu Arjun’s Ala Vaikunthapurramulo. They also have big names Trivikram Srinivas and Anil Ravipudi as directors. They are going to hit cinemas on January 12.
If one were to be brutally honest, the clash is going to do no good to either movie. In fact, one is going to lose big time if the content is weak and talk, poor. That can be known only when both the films hit screens, but right now we look from an external and neutral perspective which has bigger stakes and hence more to lose.
It won’t take an Einstein to figure out that, it is Superstar Mahesh Babu’s Sarileru Neekevvaru which has more to lose. The pre-release is getting closed at high prices. It needed an opening day bang to recover a large chunk and set some records. That is not happening with a clash.
In the US, where the market is already going through a crisis the clash is suicidal. The combined recovery needed for both movies is close to 22 Cr, and that could be impossible to achieve.
So, you have opening day record, the premiere number and US recovery and so on which effects the bigger film, which in this case is, Sarileru Neekevvaru.
In the past, Mahesh Babu has had clashes but there the genres were to his advantage in his core areas. Here they also get shares even though he is likely to lead.
With so much on the line, we wonder if the makers would stick to these release dates or go for a change in the near future. Remember, Naa Peru Suriya and Bharat Ane Nenu were also supposed to clash, but eventually the former got postponed. Let’s see how things pan out now.
