Siddhu Jonnalagadda rose to fame with DJ Tillu but recently faced back-to-back setbacks with Jack and Telusu Kada. Both films struggled to make even minimal openings, which came as a shock to Siddhu. During Telusu Kada‘s promotions, he repeatedly hinted that his next film ‘Bad Ass’ would compensate for these two failures – both content-wise and at the box office.
But the bigger, more legitimate question is about a worrying trend in Telugu cinema. Recent attempts to replicate the success of blockbuster films like KGF have repeatedly backfired. For instance, makers openly referenced KGF while promoting Vijay Deverakonda’s Kingdom, and the outcome was widely known. Similarly, Balakrishna’s Daaku Maharaaj was promoted as “Balayya’s Jailer,” attempting to recreate the magic of Rajinikanth’s Jailer, but it failed to connect.
Now, Siddhu Jonnalagadda’s upcoming Bad Ass is being hyped as a repeat of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal. Interestingly, all these films drawing inspiration from blockbusters are produced under the same Sithara Entertainments Production banner, led by Naga Vamsi. So far, none of these attempts have worked.
While Siddhu is building hype around Bad Ass claiming it will exceed all expectations, the key question remains: Will it be original, or will it fall victim to the copycat trap? It’s too early to judge, but one can only hope that this time they bring something truly fresh to the table.
