Is Controversy Helping Republic Or Not?

Ever since the fateful day of the accident of Sai Dharam Tej, his film Republic has been marred in controversy. As it is slated to release in a few days, one can’t help but wonder if the ‘controversies’ are helping Republic or not?

Deva Katta directs republic starring Sai Dharam Tej. The director burst on the scene with Vennela that came way back in 2005. Later, Prasthanam happened in 2010. The political drama won a lot of critical acclaim and laurels for the director.

Prasthanam created a lot of hype on Deva Katta’s next Autonagar Surya. Unfortunately, it was released after a lot of delays in 2015. One can see the pattern here, Deva Katta made only three notable films, but it took almost a decade to get them done.

More than half a decade later, Deva Katta is coming with Republic starring Sai Dharam Tej. It is his fourth original film in over fifteen years. But, it is again a serious political drama. In Telugu, these films start with minimum interest and gain momentum with word of mouth.

For Republic, the controversy due to the accident and Pawan Kalyan’s speech at the pre-release function have helped it gain traction. The bookings have only opened now (and are low). They are in the early stages to make an informed judgement. We have to see how things settle in the coming days. They are weak, as things stand currently.

J Bhagwan and J Pulla Rao produce Republic. Aishwarya Rajesh, Jagapathi Babu and Ramya Krishna play vital roles in the movie, which has music by Mani Sharma. Republic hits screens all over on October 1st.