Several Tollywood filmmakers are looking at August 11 to release their films. With the date falling on a Friday, it becomes a long three-day weekend just before Independence Day, so everyone wants to cash in on this long holiday. According to the filmmakers, four films, all of them medium budget, have almost been confirmed for release on this day.
The competition certainly seems set. Nithiin and Megha Akash starrer LIE, directed by Hanu Raghavapudi and Boyapati Srinu’s Jaya Janaki Nayaka starring Bellamkonda Srinivas and Rakul Preet Singh are fighting each other on this day. On the other hand, Rana Daggubati’s much-awaited film, Nene Raju Nene Mantri is all set to clash along with his cousin Naga Chaitanya’s Yuddham Sharanam directed by Krishna Marimuthu. There is going to be a trade business of nearly Rs 115 crore on this date if you look at the combined budgets of all these films.
“It’s like a festival for us. When we launched our film, we fixed 11 August as our release date,” says Anil Sunkara, one of the producers of LIE. He adds that it’s not a problem if two or three films release on the same date. “We can’t compete with a big budget film for a festival date, but on this day, there are only above average films competing with one other. People are in a holiday mood and a five-day holiday comes rarely, so it’s a big advantage for the film,” he says.
Lead actor Nithiin’s earlier film A..Aa.. was a big hit and his fan base has widened with its success. More importantly, this film has been shot mostly in US and yesteryear lead actor Arjun is playing a negative role for the first time ever.
Budgets
-Rs 40 crore
Jaya Janaki Nayaka
Bellamkonda Srinivas, Rakul Preet Singh and Pragya Jaiswal
-Rs 20 crore
Yuddham Saranam
Chaitanya and Lavanya Tripathi
-Rs 16 cr
Nene Raju Nene Mantri
Rana Daggubati, Kajal Aggarwal and Catherine Tresa
-Rs 35 crore
LIE
Nithiin and Megha Akash
People are in a holiday mood and a five-day holiday comes rarely, so it’s a big advantage for the film.
After delivering huge successes with big stars, director Boyapati is now coming up with a film titled Jaya Janaki Nayaka that stars upcoming actor Bellamkonda Srinivas. The film did business purely on Boyapati’s name and the two leading ladies, Rakul Preet Singh and Pragya Jaiswal. Unlike his earlier films, the director chose a soft title this time around. “I wanted to target family audiences this time. The film has emotional drama and also, entertainment with action. I am confident that the long holiday will definitely help my film,” says Boyapati Srinivas, adding that if the content is good, then the extended holidays will definitely help make it a big success.
Rana Daggubati’s first outing post Baahubali 2 is Nene Raju Nene Mantri, directed by Teja. The epic film made Rana even more popular and all eyes are now on him. This film, however, is a test for director Teja, who has been looking for a break since a long time. “It’s a political thriller and you can see an intense performance by Rana. However, the crowd now is different than what you would expect during a festive season,” says Suresh Babu, the producer of this film. The satirical political dialogues in the trailer has already grabbed eyeballs. Suresh Babu also adds that a maximum of four movies can release at the same time.
Producer Sai Korrapati is also planning to release Yuddham Saranam on this date. The producer feels that there is no big film in the reckoning, which is an advantage. “But I am doubtful if four films can be accommodated on this particular date. So I will wait for a while and then announce the date,” he says cautiously, adding that a long holiday break always works for films.
Recently, Duvvada Jagannadham starring Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde tasted success because of a long holiday, although the film got only an average rating. Even the makers were surprised to see the film doing good business at the box office but trade analysts say that it worked because of two extended holidays and no other film in the competition. Interestingly, the film did not match up to expectation s in the overseas market. Turns out, a good date with holidays is very critical for a film’s success.
Meanwhile, if all the films releasing on this date are successful, the business at the box office will be extremely good.
