Tollywood has already started gearing up for some big releases during Sankranti, but the highlight is that Chiranjeevi and Nandamuri Balakrishna, will be clashing at the box office as both their much-awaited films, Khaidi No. 150 and Gautamiputra Sathakarni respectively will be releasing during this time.
This will be Balakrishna’s 100th film and Chiranjeevi’s film will be his 150th, and both are considered as one of the biggest films in their careers. While Gautamiputra Sathakarni is hitting the screens on January 12, the exact date for Chiranjeevi’s film hasn’t been announced, but the makers have officially announced that it is slated for a Sankranti release. So, it’s going to be a big fight at the box office.
But, that’s not the only place where the two actors have competition. Chiranjeevi belongs to Congress, while Balakrishna is from TDP, and with these two films releasing, politics will also play a major role in how well the films do. For instance, Chiranjeevi has not actively participated in politics in the last few years and his political party has been completely wiped out despite him going all out to publicise it. This might work against him. Then you have Balakrishna whose political party is in power in Andhra Pradesh and that might work in his favour.
Content wise too, Balakrishna seems to have an advantage as he has chosen a historical subject for his 100th film, while Chiranjeevi has chosen to remake the hit Tamil film, Katti.
“I don’t think politics will have any impact on these films, but I am sure that these two films will cross the Rs 100 crore mark,” says filmmaker Thammareddy Bharadwaj. However, he adds that instead of politics, the ‘community card’ may play a big role. “Chiranjeevi has a huge fan following and everyone wants to see him on screen, since he is making a come back after a really long time,” he adds.
Balakrishna’s film is being directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and the film has already started doing business. The satellite rights have already been sold for Rs 9 crore. On the other hand, Chiranjeevi’s film is being directed by famous filmmaker V.V. Vinayak, who is known as a ‘mass director’, but the film has not yet done any business.
