Sankranti is usually the biggest time of the year for Telugu movies. This year, four big films were released with a massive total budget of Rs 850 crore. However, the box office numbers show that only one big-budget movie has actually made its money back: Chiranjeevi’s Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu.
Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu box office collection day 9
Even though the movie isn’t a record-breaking “mega-hit,” it has been very steady. On its ninth day (Tuesday), it earned about Rs 5.75 crore, bringing its total India collection to Rs 171.65 crore. When you look at the worldwide numbers, the film has made over Rs 245 crore. Since it cost Rs 200 crore to make, it has officially crossed the “breakeven” point and is now in a safe zone.
Big movies, big losses
The situation looks quite different for the other superstars. Prabhas had a huge release with The Raja Saab, which cost a staggering Rs 440 crore to produce. Unfortunately, the movie’s collections have dropped very fast. On Tuesday, it earned only Rs 73 lakh, which is a tiny amount for such an expensive film. Even though it has made Rs 200 crore worldwide so far, it still needs a lot more money just to cover its costs.
Ravi Teja’s new film, Bhartha Mahasayulaku Wignyapthi, is also struggling. It earned only Rs 55 lakh on its seventh day. With very few people going to see it, the number of theaters playing the movie has dropped to just 350 across the country.
A surprise success
The smallest movie of the bunch is doing quite well. Naveen Polishetty’s Anaganaga Oka Raju was made on a budget of just Rs 40 crore. In only one week, it has earned over Rs 38 crore in India. Because it did so well in other countries, it has already made back all the money spent on making it.
When the holiday season began, the industry had high hopes that all four major releases would be huge hits. However, as the numbers come in, the situation has changed. Chiranjeevi is currently the only big superstar standing tall with a successful run, while Naveen Polishetty has proved that a movie with a smaller budget can actually result in a much bigger success.
On the other hand, both Prabhas and Ravi Teja are facing a difficult time as their expensive films have struggled to draw in the big crowds they expected.
It goes to show that even with hundreds of crores spent, the audience is the final judge of who wins at the box office.