After the massive success of Mahanati, Keerthy Suresh became one of the most respected performers in the industry. The film gave her a strong reputation and a blockbuster result, and naturally many expected her career to continue delivering at that level.
With that confidence, Keerthy began choosing more women driven scripts such as Penguin, Miss India, Saani Kaayidham, Good Luck Sakhi, and Raghu Thatha. In all these projects, she carried the film alone.
But audiences did not respond the way she hoped. Some films went directly to OTTs and received poor response, while the theatrical releases didn’t even get minimum attention at the box office. Her latest film Revolver Rita also follows the same pattern. Released as another female centric action drama, it opened to negative reviews in both Telugu and Tamil and was declared a washout on the very first day.
The lack of buzz also played a major role. Advance bookings were extremely low, especially in Hyderabad, where many morning shows did not even get a handful of tickets sold and had to be cancelled. Once negative word of mouth spread, there was no chance for recovery.
What is interesting is that when Keerthy appears opposite leading male stars, the results are much better. Her performance in Dasara with Nani was appreciated, and the film became a success. But her solo projects simply are not landing with the audience.
Recently, Keerthy said that people do not watch female centric films because of bias. But many disagree. They argue that Mahanati succeeded not because it was female oriented, but because it had strong writing, proper planning, and effective promotions. Her recent films have struggled mainly because the content was not engaging enough.
At this point, Keerthy may need to rethink her direction. Chasing another Mahanati is not practical because miracles like that happen once in a career. It may be smarter for her to take commercial films with saleable heroes while selecting strong roles within those scripts. That balance could help her regain momentum.
With Revolver Rita failing, producers may become more cautious. But if Keerthy shifts her choices wisely and focuses on better scripts rather than just concepts, her career can turn around again because talent has never been her problem. Only the selection of films has.
