• Allu Arjun’s Sarrainodu and Jr. NTR’s Janatha Garage set cash registers ringing inspite of divide talk.
• Pellichoopulu and Bicchagadu are standouts in 2016 in which a total of 170 movies released.
• 2016 is a forgettable year for superstars Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu.

2016 so far has seen 170 Straight releases (two more Fridays to go) with an average of minimum 3 releases per week. Also, 89 dubbed films got released taking the total to 259 releases so far this year. Compared to last year’s the success rate has been more than double, a good sign for the second largest industry after Bollywood. There were 7 successful films last year and this year has witnessed 13 successful films so far.

Allu Arjun scored summer super hit Sarrainodu. Though the movie started slowly, it surprised all the trade analysts with its super successful run. NTR Siva Koratala’s Combo Janatha Garage lived up to the expectations and grossed well. However, the cynosure of 2016 that finds an entry into the ‘Hall of Fame’ for most profitable hit of all time is ‘Pellichoopulu’. Made with a shoestring budget of 70lacs, the movie went on to collect more than 10 crores ( not counting 5+ crores in US).
Let’s look at the Blockbusters, Superhits and Disasters of 2016.

Blockbusters:

• Sarrainodu : After an ordinary opening, the film has taken leap from its 2nd day and continued its fantastic run till 50 days. This is 4th consecutive summer release for Allu Arju and for the 2nd time he has scored a blockbuster in this season ( 1st was Race Gurram). This is a consecutive success for mass director Boyapati and 1st with this generation heros. Sarrainodu collected a share of 59.4 crores in AP/Telangana and Rs. 7.6 Crores in Rest of India. The film has collected over 67 Cr distributor share in domestic markets.

 

• Janatha Garage : This has been one of the much awaited films of the year and the only film to reach the expectations of the trade. It has emerged as a much awaited blockbuster and comeback for NTR. Koratala Siva scored a hat trick of blockbusters, which is a rare feat achieved by few directors. Janatha Garage collected a share of 57.3 crores in AP/Telangana and Rs. 8.7 Crores in Rest of India. Film’s distributor Share in India is over 66 Cr. 

• Soggade Chinni Nayana : This film was an underdog among Sankranthi releases but emerged as the only blockbuster among them. The film has returned twice the investment to both distributors and exhibitors and also emerged as the biggest grosser among the BIG 4 senior heros. It is a consecutive blockbuster for Nagarjuna after Manam. The film has collected close to 42cr distributor share in domestic markets.

 

• Pellichoopulu : Undoubtedly, this is the unexpected blockbuster of the year. The film’s domestic rights were sold for 1.5cr to Suresh Productions and has collected a huge 10cr which is 6 times of the investment. If you consider return on investment only this is the biggest blockbuster of the year. The film has collected 5cr share in Nizam which is half of the total domestic share.

 

• Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada : ) This is the 1st success for the film industry after demonetization has happened. The film has returned double the investment to distributor. Distributors share of the film in India is Over 11.5Cr.

 

 

Superhits/Hits

• A Aa : Showed the power of Brand Trivikram and movie went on to collect 36cr just on the ace director’s brand image.
• Supreme : First hit for Sai Dharam Teja with a domestic Domestic Share of 22 Cr
• Premam : Only film which managed to be a hit among Dasara releases. The film has collected over 18cr share in domestic markets.
• Nenu Sailaja : Comeback for Ram and started the year on a good note as it released on 1st January. Film’s distributor share in India is close to 18cr.
• Express Raja : Inspite of three other notable releases for Pongal this film has become a hit with a distributor share of 12cr in India
• Gentleman : The film has collected 14cr share in Domestic markets
• EedoRakam Aadokram : Another sleeper hit which collected 8cr share in India.

• Oopiri : Hat trick success for Nagarjuna . India Share – 25 Cr. Though movie won critical acclaim, it didn’t reflect at the box office.

 

 

Special Mention:

• Nannaku Prematho – An ultra-class movie from creative director Sukumar, this movie went on to collect highest in Jr. NTR’s career at that point. However, the movie could not recover the high investments , most of the distributors in India had suffered losses and hence it can’t be classified as a hit. Movie collected a distributor share of 41Cr and most of the distributors ended up loosing around 10%.

 

• Dhruva – Coming after a disaster Brucelee, Dhruva is a welcome image makeover for Charan. This movie is expected to collect a distributor share of over 46 Cr and will return ~10% losses to distributors in AP/TG sans Nizam. Similar to Nannaku Prematho, Dhruva is a film that changes the image of the hero, but can’t be classified as a hit.

• Srirastu Subhamastu : The film had a steady run and collected 9cr in India. An inordinate amount of money has been spent on promoting Allu Sirish as hero and producers were successful to an extent.
  Guntur Talkies, Kshanam : Both movies did reasonably well based on ROI measures.

 

Disasters

• Brahmotsavam : The film is one of the biggest disasters in Telugu Film Industry. The film has collected 31cr Share in India and incurred over 30cr Losses to the distributors. The distributors lost 50 paisa of every Rupee invested.

 

• Sardaar gabbar Singh : This film has done a record pre-release business of 72cr including expenses but managed to collect only 47 Cr which tallies a loss of 25Cr. This is also a big disaster but Brahmotsavam has beaten it in terms of losses.
• Eedu Gold Ehe & Thikka : Both the films have managed to recover only 30% of the investments and ended up as biggest disasters in hero’s career’s .
• Nirmala Convent & Aatadukundam Raa also ended as epic disasters.

 

Dubbing Films:

• Bichagadu: Vijay Anonty’s sleeper hit was bought of 1cr and collected close to 13.5cr share in full run with ROI of 13 times. The film even had 100 days run in few centres. Mother of Blockbusters.

 

• Manyam Puli :which is Mollywood’s biggest grosser has managed to emerge as Hit and is expected to collect 3cr in full run.

 

• Vikram’s Inkokkadu fared well in Telugu states.

• Kabali: Superstar Rajini’s movie was released with extra-ordinary hype ended as a flop in Telugu. Movie was sold for 32 crores and collected a distributor share of 22 Cr , returning a loss of 10 crores to distributors.
• 24 and Dharmayogi (Dhanush) Telugu can be termed as average movies.

 

Read –> Overseas 2016 Box office report

Overall, it is a good year for TFI. There are still lingering questions about the effect of demonetization. 2017 has lot of exciting movies for all the major heroes, none less than the return of Megastar. Stay tuned to Telugu360 for all the latest news, Box office reports.

For any questions/feedback on this, reach out to krishna@telugu360.com