Half of the year 2022 completed by this month’s end. During these 6 months, there were some sensations, unexpected wins and disappointments too in the Telugu Film Industry. Let’s turn back and have a look at the TFI’s record so far this year.
The year’s Medium and biggies began with Rana Daggubati’s 1945 release on January 7th, which ended as a disaster. Alongside 1945, Aadi Saikumar’s Atithi Devo Bhava too came out the same day which is not even identified by anyone. Next comes the most profitable Pongal season for Tollywood. On January 14th, Akkineni Nagarjuna’s Bangarraju was released to not-so-great reception. It starred his son Naga Chaitanya alongside him. On the same day, Ashish Reddy’s debut film Rowdy Boys, and Kalyan Dev’s Super Machi were released and went on to become flops. Ashok Galla’s Hero January 15th and Keerthy Suresh’s Good Luck Sakhi on the 28th were both disasters.
February’s movie fest started on the 11th with Ravi Teja’s Khiladi which was directed by Ramesh Varma. It’s gone on to become an average flick. The films released on the same day were Sehari, Bhamakalapam, Sumanth’s Malli Modalaindi. Sumanth’s flick has good word of mouth and is considered to be a breakeven venture. On February 12th, Siddhu Jonnalagadda’s DJ Tillu was released. With a good talk, the film went on to become the best of the blockbusters in small films released this year to date. On the 18th, the disastrous film of the year Son Of India starring Mohan Babu was released. Though the movie was not such a disaster regarding budget, it was slammed in and out by trollers on social media. On the 25th, Power Star Pawan Kalyan’s Bheemla Nayak was released and received a good reception. Directed by Sagar K Chandra, the flick has Trivikram’s support throughout and Rana Daggubati was the antagonist in the film.
Kiran Abbavaram’s Sebastian PC 524 came out on March 4th to average reviews. Sharwanand’s Adavallu Miku Joharlu too was released on this day and went on to be a flop movie. The movie is directed by Kishore Tirumala and stars Rashmika Mandanna alongside Sharwa. On March 11th, Prabhas’s anticipated pan-India movie Radhe Shyam was released. Radha Krishna Kumar’s directorial, though received a positive talk in the Hindi belt, was rejected by the Telugu audience. It ended up being a flop. On March 18th, Raj Tarun’s Stand Up Rahul was released and it too was deemed as an average film. March and the entire year were saved by the next release RRR. It hit the screens on March 25th and was an instantaneous sensational hit. SS Rajamouli’s directorial has Ram Charan and Ntr starring together in a history-based fictitious freedom struggle where Charan was cast as Alluri Sita Rama Raju and Ntr portrayed Komuram Bheem. The film raked in collections all over the world and after Baahubali, SSR once again made the Telugu Cinema proud.
Coming to April, the month ended up as a flop month as no movie released in April were all disasters. Tapsee Pannu’s Mishan Impossible, Varun Tej’s Ghani, Chandoo Mondeti directorial Bloody Mary, Megastar Chiranjeevi’s Acharya were the releases in this month.
In the peak summer month May, Jayamma Panchayati, Bhala Thandanana, and Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam were released on the 6th of May. While Anchor Suma’s Jayamma Panchayati and Sree Vishnu’s Bhala Thandanana were termed as average, Viswak Sen’s AVAK was a hit, credit to the controversies that surrounded it. On May 12th, Superstar Mahesh Babu’s Sarkaru Vari Pata was released. Though the movie didn’t have great openings, it picked up slowly and was deemed to be a hit film. Directed by Parasuram Petla, this Mythri Movie Makers production has Keerthy Suresh and Samuthira Khani in key roles. Rajasekhar’s Sekhar was released on the 20th followed by Anil Ravipudi’s F3. The hilarious entertainer was a superhit from the first day. It starred Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamannaah Bhatia and Mehreen Pirzada as the leads. Dil Raju bankrolled this sequel of F2.
June started with a bang with the release of Adivi Sesh’s Major. This biopic of Martyr Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was a superhit across India. Super Star Mahesh Babu produced this action entertainer. On June 10th, Nani’s Ante Sundaraniki was released and received an average response. Directed by Vivek Athreya and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, the film has Mallu star Nazriya Nazeem as the female lead. On June 17th, Rana’s Virataparvam and Satyadev’s Godse hit the silver screens. Virataparvam received accolades but failed in collections and ended up as a commercially failed project. On June 23rd, Ram Gopal Varma’s Konda was released. On the 24th, Sammathame, Chor Bazaar, and 7Days-6Nights were released along with a plethora of other small films. All of these ended up being disasters.
Overall, DJ Tillu, Bheemla Nayak, RRR, AVAK, Sarkaru Vari Pata, F3, and Major have secured first ranks till now in 2022. A lot of sensational movies are waiting to release in the second half of this year. We have to wait and see if they will cover the success percentage of Tollywood for complete 2022.