Director Sukumar has been a brand right after his debut Arya. It catapulted him to a different league. It is the reason why despite no real big hits for over a decade, only 100% Love was a genuine success in ten years after debut; many top heroes were after Sukumar.
The number 1 position for a director has been sealed ever since Magadheera happened nearly a decade ago. And until as recently as Sankranthi, the number two position was locked similarly by Trivikram Srinivas. An Agnyaathavaasi doesn’t change that. However, another similar failure would hurt his place, but that is for some other time.
After these top two positions VV Vinayak held on the third spot for a long time, the rest was always a lottery depending on the latest release. But Vinayak has dropped big time with Akhil and Intilligent despite Khaidi No 150. Right now Koratala Siva is at the third position due to Bharat Ane Nenu whereas Boyapati Sreenu has a fall courtesy Jaya Janaki Nayaka.
Sukumar and Surender Reddy were in a different zone after those names. The standard criteria here is, a director should be able to bring crowds in his name irrespective of the star. Sukumar never had a universal opening across centres before Rangasthalam.
Now, Sukumar has Rangasthalam behind him. Where does that take him? Well, we feel that director still hasn’t broken into the top 3, because there is again uncertainty over his universal opening. The director is back in the same position as he was after his debut, Arya. He is in a unique place that is outside the number game. A grand follow up success to Rangasthalam will land him straight to number 2. But then again, it would take two years for his next to arrive that makes things difficult for him.
In the overseas, it is a different matter altogether with Sukumar occupying the third spot after SS Rajamouli and Trivikram. Will the same order materialise all over after Sukumar’s next with Mahesh Babu? It would be a long wait to know the answer.
