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SouthScope: With the big boys missing, smaller films will rule the roost in September

In our weekly peek into happenings in the southern film industries, a look also at why #BoycottBollywood is harming films.

Bhawana Tanmayi

Published Aug 26, 2022 | 3:51 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 18, 2022 | 12:21 PM

Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga poster

Vaisshnav Tej and Ketika Sharma in 'Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga'. (SVCCoficial/Twitter)

Small yet big?

As we mentioned last week, the month of August has been good for Telugu cinema. As Sita Ramam, Bimbisaara and Karthikeya 2 did brisk business at the box office, their producers were thrilled.

But with all the Telugu releases for the month already done, it is time for producers, public relations types, distributors and, yes, even the audience, to focus on the films that are scheduled to release in September.

And the surprise here is that, unlike August, there are no big releases slated for September. Instead, several small-budget films that have been biding their time in the editing suites, are finally making their way to the theatres.

These are the scheduled  releases:
September 2: Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga and First Day First Show
September 9: Oke Oka Jeevitham, Nenu Meeku Baga Kavalsinavaadini and Gurtunda Seethakalam
September 16: Aa Ammayi Gurinchi Meeku Cheppali and Saakini Daakini
September 23: Krishna Vrinda Vihari, Alluri and Dongalunnaru Jaagratha

The above films have actors Vaishnav Tej, Sudheer Babu, Sharwanand, Naga Shaurya, Regina Cassandra, Nivetha Thomas and others in lead roles. These actors aren’t really top stars, and not all of them are bankable. Most of them are, in fact, back after the three waves of the pandemic, and it is important for these actors to prove their mettle at the box office.

Fingers crossed and hoping that these films offer some good content that can bring the audiences back to the theatres in full force — just as those three big releases did in August.

Set to rock the floor!

As we well know, film shootings stalled all through August. In just a few days from now (on 1 September), however, films are all set to go back on the floors as the producers, theatre owners and the unions of the 24 craft workers have thrashed out their differences. Many films — not just Telugu, but from other languages too — that were waiting for the right time to kick off, will begin shooting in the two Telugu states.

The much-awaited Pushpa 2, starring Allu Arjun and Fahadh Faasil in lead roles, was launched with a pooja ceremony on Monday, 22 August. This Sukumar directorial was to go on the floors in the month of March, but due to various reasons, it was delayed by five months.

Tentatively titled #Suriya42, Suriya’s Telugu debut project, was also launched earlier this week. Director Siva, producers Vamsi Krishna Reddy and Gnanavel Raja, music director Devi Sri Prasad and others took part in the pooja for the official launch of the film.

Rajinikanth starrer Jailer, directed by Nelson, also went on floors this week. The film has Ramya Krishnan, Aishwarya Rai, and Priyanka Mohan in pivotal roles. As Annatthhe and Darbar, the most recent two films of Rajinikanth, sank at the box office, there are huge expectations from Jailer. Though fans have hopes for Nelson, they are afraid he would make it another Beast.

Also, Shankar Shanmugam and Kamal Haasan’s Indian 2, which was stalled for long, again for various reasons, is now back on floors.

Prabhas and Maruthi’s Raja Deluxe was also launched unannounced. The pooja was held without making too much noise on social media, and not even a single picture from the event made its way to mainstream media or social media. Allari Naresh’s Ugram, Naga Shaurya’s untitled project, Rajasekhar’s Monster and many other small-budget films also went on floors this week.

#BoycottBollywood affects theatre stocks

#BoycottBollywood is one of the most trending topics on social media these days. Recent flops at the Hindi box office include Laal Singh Chaddha, Rakshabandhan, Dobara and Shamshera. Even #BoycottLiger was trending before the release of the Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Pandey starrer.

Boycott bollywood

The #BoycottBollywood trend is affecting the theatre revenues. (supplied)

This trend is now gripping the soon-to-be-released Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt film Brahmastra and Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan starrer Vikram Vedha. In fact, #BoycottBrahmastra is now on the list of top trends on social media.

These trending hashtags are seriously affecting Bollywood business and also directly affecting multiplex stocks.

According to a report, Bollywood films are flopping one-by-one due to inherently weak storylines combined with the #boycott trends.

Shares of PVR are down 12.9 percent, Inox Leisure Ltd by 13.6 and Cineline India Ltd by 15.5 percent so far since Laal Singh Chaddha was released. All these stocks were at a 52-week high in the month of August before the release of Laal Singh Chaddha.

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