Tollywood’s box-office situation is becoming increasingly worrying. This week’s releases exposed another troubling trend. Several films arrived in theatres, but none managed to generate meaningful opening numbers. It was expected to be a box-office Jathara, but audiences chose to stay at home.
Itllu Arjuna, starring newcomer Aniesh, received considerable promotional support. The film was reportedly made on a budget of around Rs. 40 crores, with massive promotions. Several top stars, including Nagarjuna, NTR and Ram Charan, promoted the film. It also received decent reviews, with nothing particularly bad being said about its content. However, that did not translate into ticket sales.
The situation was no different for Donga Naa Koduku, Maya Lady, Chandrayaan, GOAT and Dark Chocolate.
Donga Naa Koduku had the advantage of the Mythri Movie Makers banner and Mouli’s popularity after Little Hearts. The makers promoted it extensively, hoping to repeat the previous film’s success. However, the response has been disappointing. Worse, the film’s cheap comedy and negative reception have damaged some of the goodwill Mouli earned with Little Hearts.
Sudigali Sudheer’s GOAT has suffered an even bigger setback. After years of delays, controversies and a change of director, the film finally reached theatres but failed to secure even a respectable opening. Its collections are reportedly insufficient to cover theatre rentals. The film is expected to finish its theatrical run with less than Rs. 1 crore gross, leaving practically no theatrical share for the makers. For Sudigali Sudheer, who enjoys a strong television following, this is a huge setback.
Interestingly, last week’s Ramayana and Suriya’s Scene managed to attract more ticket sales than several of this week’s new releases. Even a disaster like Aadarsha Kutumbam had better bookings, which shows how badly the new releases failed.
The problem is not necessarily a lack of promotional activity. Producers have organized press meets, interviews and events, but the promotional content has failed to create curiosity. Trailers and teasers must convince audiences that a film is worth watching in theatres. If they fail to generate interest, spending more on promotional events makes little difference.
Publicity cannot manufacture audience interest when the content fails to create excitement. No matter how much producers spend on promotions, audiences will not walk into theatres simply because the team is giving nonstop interviews and doing promotions.
Next week brings some interesting releases, including Aakasamlo Oka Tara, Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi 2 (ENE Repeat), and Dhanush’s Om. Will they finally bring audiences back to theatres, or will Tollywood face another disappointing weekend? The box office will provide the answer.
