This year 2023 has been a mix of successes and letdowns for the Telugu film industry. While some movies celebrated triumphs, others unfortunately failed to meet expectations, resulting in significant financial losses. Let’s take a closer look at some of the major Tollywood films that encountered setbacks in 2023, impacting the industry’s performance.
Gandeevadhari Arjuna : Although labeled as an action entertainer, this Praveen Sattaru-directed film received a mixed reaction from the audience. However, its first-day box office collection fell short, clocking in at less than 1 Crore.
Shaakuntalam: Despite high anticipation due to its mythological storyline and Samantha’s popularity, this film failed to resonate with audiences. Critics and viewers found the emotions lacking, alongside criticisms about the actors’ performances. The heavy use of 3D technology also received backlash, leading to an estimated loss exceeding twenty crores.
Ravanasura: Despite Ravi Teja’s previous success Waltair Veeraya, ‘Ravanasura’ failed to connect with the audience as a pan-India revenge drama. The losses from this movie exceeded its budget of over Rs 10 crores, marking a setback for the actor.
Custody: A bilingual crime thriller that didn’t live up to its pre-release expectations, collecting far less at the box office than anticipated. This disappointment followed Naga Chaitanya’s earlier film, ‘Thank You,’ adding to the actor’s series of letdowns.
Rama Banam: Gopichand faced his biggest flop with this film made on a budget of Rs 15 crores. Despite the successful collaboration between Gopichand and director Sriwass, the movie failed to meet expectations, causing significant losses.
Agent: This spy action thriller added to Akhil Akkineni’s series of failures. The lack of originality in the storyline led to the movie’s disappearance from theaters within the first weekend, resulting in reported losses of around Rs 30 crores.
Adipurush: Despite generating immense buzz, ‘Adipurush’ faces challenges in reaching its break-even point despite doing business worth more than Rs 250 crores. Collecting less than expected, it needs substantial earnings to avoid being deemed a flop.
Bholaa Shankar: The remake of the 2015 Ajith film failed to meet expectations, resulting in disappointing outcomes at the box office.
Aadi Keshava: Despite its release in December, the movie struggled to gather momentum, failing to even secure satisfactory first-day collections, which labeled it as a disaster for Mythri movie makers.
‘BRO’ (BRO The Avatar) : Helmed by writer-director Samuthirakani, this Telugu remake based on Vinodhaya Sitham and tweaked by Trivikram Srinivas failed to hit the mark, remaining a flop and unable to achieve break-even despite the star power of Pawan Kalyan and Sai Dharam Tej.
