Paradise to Family Star: ‘The’ Biggest Tollywood Curse?

Is 'The' Becoming a Tollywood Curse?

Some of the biggest disasters in recent times have one thing in common: the prefix THE in their titles.

First came Vijay Deverakonda’s The Family Star. The film arrived with a lot of expectations but turned into a huge disaster at the box office. For THE Vijay Deverakonda branding, The Family Star turned out to be a nightmare.

Then came Prabhas’ The Raja Saab. The film became another major box-office debacle. It also became a massive trolling target across social media. For a pan-India star like Prabhas, the film became an embarrassing film at all levels.

And now we have Nani-Srikanth Odela’s The Paradise. The film received extremely negative reactions after its release. The over-the-top performances, excessive violence and unintentionally funny scenes turned several portions into instant troll material. Yet, unlike The Family Star and The Raja Saab, The Paradise did not completely crash because the hype was enormous.

Nani’s credibility, two chartbuster songs and the huge curiosity around Srikanth Odela’s second film helped it survive the initial negative talk. The film has reportedly done reasonably well in Nizam, while Andhra has been a disaster. Overseas has also been a disaster, with the rest of India struggling as well.

The Paradise was expected to crash after the extremely negative first-day response. But it held better than expected and reportedly collected around Rs. 125 crores gross worldwide in four days. The film still has a long way to go to reach its breakeven mark.

But the word THE has done its magic… The Family Star. The Raja Saab. The Paradise. Three films. Three different levels of failure. But all carrying the same little word THE.

After these three examples, filmmakers may think twice before putting it in front of their next title.