Lady Superstar Nayanthara Gets Another Flop
But industry veterans aren’t ready to write her off just yet
Nayanthara is going through a rough patch at the box office. The actress had two releases in late August, both of which failed to make the desired impact. In Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, she played Yash’s sister in the much-awaited Rs 500-crore production, which tanked. In Hi, she starred opposite Kavin in an age-gap drama. Made on a reported Rs 20 crore budget, the film ended its theatrical run with a gross of under Rs 15 crore.
The setback comes after a strong start to the year with Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, in which she starred alongside Chiranjeevi. Her career, however, has seen its share of disappointments in recent years, with films such as Annapoorani, Iraivan, Connect, Patriot and Nizhal failing to make a significant theatrical impact.
Her direct-to-streaming sports drama Test, co-starring R Madhavan and Siddharth, also received a largely negative response after its release. Yet, industry observers point out that Nayanthara has weathered career slumps before. Her collaborations with Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan and Chiranjeevi in Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu have demonstrated that she can still be part of major commercial successes.
Her Test co-star R Madhavan also believes that box office figures cannot be the sole measure of stardom. “We tend to equate box office with stardom. But the fact is, a true-blue star like Nayanthara can survive setbacks. Her fans are not disappointed by her, but by her films.”
You can’t write off someone with her talent and beauty just because some of her films haven’t done well. Nobody spoke of writing off Ravi Teja before Irumudi, although he had a succession of setbacks. Nayanthara will be back with my Monster.”
Dil Raju, producer