Tollywood has passed through the first quarter of 2022 with some big happening moments at the box office. 24 straight Telugu films have entered the theatres in the first three months of the year.
The year started with the release of three films on January 1st- RGV's "Aasha Encounter" and Varun Sandesh starrer "Induvadana".
Out of these "Aasha Encounter" has gone unnoticed while "Induvadana" failed to pull audiences to theatres though it could turn the head of some viewers with the trailer.
Rana's "1945" was a film that was shot and paused to release 7 years ago. At last it saw the light of theatres on Jan 7th but the cast and crew didn't put any time for promotions and so finally it failed at the box office with poor collections.
On the same day "Atithi Devo Bhava" starring Aadi and Nuveksha was released but wasn't received well.
The Sankranthi season was left with small and average budget films for the first time owing to the Covid restrictions like 50% occupancy and no night shows by the government of AP. Ticket prices issue also was a key factor for the postponement of all big films from the Sankranthi race. Out of the notable films, only "Bangarraju" could see the light of Sankratnthi and fared well at the box office. The B and C centers recorded good collections owing to the festival season.
The other films released along with Bangarraju on Jan 14th are Rowdy Boys, Super Macchi and The American Dream. 'Rowdy Boys' could get some good openings with the names like Dil Raju and Sirish attached to it. The other two films couldn't pull the traction of the audience.
On the 15th of January, 'Hero', the debut film of Ashok Galla was released. It couldn't grab the attention and finally ended up as a flop.
Next in the list were Uniki on Jan 18th and Good Luck Sakhi of Keerthy Suresh released on Jan 28th which were toppled at the box office.
The 11th of February has seen the release of four films and nothing could survive at the box office. 'Khiladi' by Ravi Teja has tasted the most bitter failure. Sehari, Bhamakalapam and Malli Modalaindi were evaporated.
The biggest small film of this first quarter of the year is DJ Tillu which was released on Feb 12. The film pulled the attention of young audiences and did a fair show at the box office.
Mohan Babu's 'Son of India' and Vikram Sahadev's 'Virgin Story' disappointed the audience releasing on Feb 18.
Feb 25th has seen the light of 'Bheemla Nayak' that created tremors at the box office in the post pandemic season. This was the first biggest film at the Telugu box office this year. Though there is a dispute on the collections announced and profits booked, it is needless to say that this film brought back the missing furore at the box office.
Then comes March with the release of Sebastian PC 524 and Aadavalu Meeku Joharlu on March 4th. Both were toppled at the box office and the audience rejected without any mercy.
The costliest love story ever 'Radhe Shyam' was released on March 11th and received mixed reviews. On a whole the film ended up as a disaster.
Raj Tarun's 'Stand Up Rahul' couldn't stand on its own at the box office on March 18.
'RRR' , the biggest film of 2022, saw light on March 25th and created a tsunami everywhere. Almost all the theatres in both the Telugu states screened only this film but still placed Houseful boards everywhere. The film is still running at the box office.
On a whole, the first quarter of 2022 ended on a great note for Tollywood. We have to see what is in store for the second quarter.
