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Nandamuri star war eclipses cockfights
More than 1,500-odd theatres in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will wear a festive look from Wednesday as die-hard fans and viewers throng theatres to watch their favourite stars in action.
Hyderabad: More than 1,500-odd theatres in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will wear a festive look from Wednesday as die-hard fans and viewers throng theatres to watch their favourite stars in action.
Already huge cut-outs have come up in various theatres and fans will be celebrating by offering coconuts and garlands from early hours of Wednesday. This time around, more than Rs 100 crore is at stake with Jr NTR’s film “Naanaku Prematho” with Rs 50 crore-plus leading the pack, followed by Rs 35-crore “Dictator” and Rs-25 crore “Soggade Chinninayana” besides Rs 15-crore “Express Raja”.
The most interesting aspect of this Sankranthi is the “head-on collision” between Nandamuri stars Balakrishna and Jr NTR, which is eagerly awaited by fans as well as in T-town observers. The clash of Nandamuri stars casts shadow on cockfights.
“Both the stars carry the Nandamuri legacy and almost share same fan base all over AP and TS. For the first time they are competing with each other which is bound to leave the fans beleaguered. If Balakrishna is a seasoned hand in larger-than-life roles, Jr NTR has chosen to play a doting son without diluting his angry-young-man image to attract wider section of audience.
Surely it’s a clash of titans,” said Sriniviasa Reddy, exhibitor and distributor of Nandyal. However, Jr NTR has an edge over his uncle Balakrishna in the Nizam region since he got 350-odd theatres in TS, whereas it’s an evenly matched in AP.
“NTR got more than 350 theatres in Telangana, including 100-odd theatres in Twin Cities alone for first two days, while Balakrishna and Nagarjuna will take those theatres from January 15 and 16,” said exhibitor Vijayendar Reddy, who doesn’t see the major releases as clash of titans.
“I do agree that there is a lot of curiosity around Jr NTR and Balakrishn films. Everyone is watching who will fare better, but we want all the stars, including Nagarjuna and Sharwanand to score big hits,”
he said.
Summing up the festival mania, top producer Bandla Ganesh said, “Every Sankranthi we have a bunch of star-films hitting the screens since it’s a big festival in TS and AP. Farmers after hard work of harvest season want some relaxation.
