As the year 2022 is coming to a close, it is also the time to reflect upon how the Telugu film industry began this year and how it has fared. As per the analysis made by the cine pundits, it appears that the year 2022 has been quite tragic not just business-wise but also at a personal level given the number of tragic deaths. Incidentally, the expectations were high from everyone because the industry lost nearly two years due to the pandemic and they were hoping to cover for it. Also, there was a strong notion that the audience was eager to get back to theatres and they would lap up almost every other movie which would hit the screens.
To take an average, nearly 100 films hit the screens throughout this year and this does not include the c-listed flicks which come and go in a jiffy. Out of the hundred flicks, just about six to seven movies have actually scored credible success at the box office while the remaining projects drowned. Some of the most promising films which failed to click were ‘Khiladi’ ‘Thank You’ ‘Radhe Shyam’ ‘Acharya’ ‘Ante Sundaraniki’ ‘Liger’ ‘Ramarao On Duty’ ‘The Warrior’ featuring the biggest heroes of the circuit.
As for those films which did have promise, they were unable to draw the audience to the theatres and ended up as average or above average grosser. Of course, there were few films which gave a breather such as ‘Bimbisara’ ‘Karthikeya 2’ ‘Sita Ramam’ ‘DJ Tillu’ ‘Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam’ ‘Hit 2’ ‘Major’ but given the kind of money that was pumped in, the ROI was not up to the mark. Overall, the business of cinema for Tollywood was below expectations but the industry folks are confident that they would make it up with the next set of movies in 2023.
While this is the financial side, the industry also suffered big emotional blows in the form of many stalwarts reaching heavenly abode. Right from Ramesh Babu to Balayya, Tatineni Rama Rao, Krishnam Raju, Superstar Krishna, Kaikala Satyanarayana and Chalapathi Rao, it has been a hard thing to digest for the industry members. That said, the Tollywood circuit is still holding a strong heart and they are positive that good times are just round the corner.
