TFI Hits N Misses: 2nd Half Report – 2012

Well here is a look at the second half of the year and see how the films have fared at the box office.

• July
• August
• Sept.
• October
• November
• December

The month opened with Billa 2 which was a washout at box office. What followed next week was the film of the month Eega. Director SS Rajamouli created a splash all over with his Eega which was the talk of the town. Not only in Telugu, the film went on to be a success in Tamil as well.

The next most anticipated film of the month was Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara promoted as a ‘multistarrer’. The film failed to live up to the expectations and couldn’t sustain at the box office. Due to the high budget invested and the low returns produced it’s a disaster. MS Raju tasted yet another failure in the form of Tuneega Tuneega.
Super hit: Eega
Disaster: Tuneega Tuneega, Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara and Billa 2.

A perfect release despite being delayed by a month saw Julayi emerge as super hit with above average word of mouth. It is the highest grossing Allu Arjun and Trivikram movie now. Sudigadu came to the rescue of Allari Naresh who was finding it hard to get a success. Sudigadu lived up to its name and turned the fate of Allari Naresh giving him the biggest hit of his career.

Srimannarayana was the third film of Nandamuri Balakrishna in the third consecutive month and the fatigue was felt at the box office. The film which was easily the actor’s best post Simha failed to enthuse the audience and flopped at the box office. Ravi Teja continued with his poor with Devudu Chesina Manushulu. This film directed by Puri Jagannadh was panned across the board but the film courtesy the combination and holidays opened decently and then nose dived completely after the weekend.

Andala Rakshasi generated buzz due to the involvement of SS Rajamouli but the film turned out to be a turkey at the box office. Mask a dubbed film was a washout as well.
Super hit: Julayi and Sudigaadu.
Flop: Srimannarayana.
Disaster: Devudu Chesina Manushulu.
Washout: Mask and Andala Rakshasi.

September saw the release of varied kind of films like the devotional Shirdi Sai, classy Life Is Beautiful, Horror thrillers Avunu and Charulatha and finally the biggie Rebel starring Prabhas. None of the film managed to get whole hear-ted mandate from the audience and each film did well with only a segment of audience and in particular places.

Avunu was the best of the lot and it did well but the film after the good reception was bought for higher price which it failed to recover. Shirdi Sai got good reviews but the collections didn’t match the praise it got. Life is Beautiful failed on both the counts however Sekhar Kammula’s audience turned up in the high end metros making it below average.

Rebel was the most awaited film of the month. It was also the first film of Young Rebel Star Prabhas after more than a year. The film opened with disaster talk in the A centers but had average to above average talk in the lower B and C centers. Lack of opposition and holiday in the opening week gave the film a big opening. The smaller centers had decent run which made the film collect on par with Prabhas’s last hit Mr. Perfect. Still as the investment was huge by distributors it’s a flop.
Below Average: Avunu, Shirdi Sai and Life is Beautiful.
Flop: Rebel.
Disaster: Charulatha.

Pawan Kalyan’s new film post the blockbuster Gabbar Singh released for Dussera festival. The film opened with varied talk. It opened with disaster talk in ceded and some other areas but had below average to average talk in the Nizam. However the controversy that followed from day 2 and the holidays that started right at the end of its first week helped the film sustain till the end of second week taking the film to more than a decent total. However the film failed to recover its investment in any of the areas barring Nizam, Karnataka and parts of US. It currently stands as the highest grossing flop in Telugu cinema.

Manchu Vishnu scored a hit after Dhee again in Dhenikaina Ready. Thanks to the postponement of Dhamarukam it was the only film apart from CGR running in cinemas for the festive season. This coupled with some controversial publicity it got made the film a success at the box office. Box office result of Boochi was more scary than the actual film itself.

Dubbed films continued their poor run at the box office as both Shiva Thandavam and Brothers failed big time at the box office. The former was a washout and the later, a disaster.
Hit: Dhenikaina Ready.
Flop: Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu.
Disaster: House Full and Brothers.
Washout: Shiva Thandavam and Boochi.

Director Maruthi cashed in on the postponement of Dhamarukam and released his film for Diwali holidays even though it was a Sunday. As it was the only Telugu film running in theaters during the holiday’s time and has the mandate of the youth the film fared well. Maruthi scored another success with this film after Ee Rojullo. After numerous delays Dhamarukam finally released to above average talk. It fared well for what it had gone through and time it released it. However the investment on the film was big and despite lots of concession the film’s final number doesn’t add up to give the gross required for breakeven. It did well in few areas and is the highest grossing movie in the career of Akkineni Nagarjuna though.

Routine Love Story released with Dhamarukam. Yes it did and that summarizes its fate at the box office. Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum released with lots of hype. The hype resulted in good openings but the content was far from satisfactory to get the recovery. The film didn’t add much after the opening week. It did well in the overseas though where it was a profitable venture.

Thuppaki performance was strange. It was strange because, the film had the best reviews and word of mouth out of all the releases, in the month. It opened decently too for the holidays but after the holidays the audience just didn’t turn up for the film barring very few centers. The film was taken for a good price as director AR Murugadoss last film despite being poor opened big and grossed good. As a result of the price the film is a flop to below average affair in Telugu.
Hit: Bus Stop.
Average: Damarukam.
Below Average to Flop: Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum and Thuppaki.
Disaster: Routine Love Story.

Srikanth starrer Devaraya was a disaster from the morning show however it opened well compared to his previous films. Yeto Vellipoindi Manasu released with decent hype resulting in good opening day but the film completely fell from the second day onwards in almost all the centers barring Hyderabad city where it fared well and doing good still now. The film was however a success in overseas.

Sarocharu too didn’t help Mass Maharaja Ravi Teja and the film also added to his list of flops. It has now reached a very critical stage for the actor to deliver a success immediately.

Three films released in the final weekend of the year. Each film was different from each other and all opened to mixed talk with Yamudiki Mogudu being the best among the three followed by Genius and Ko Ante Koti. Thanks to Allari Naresh’s presence Yamudiki Mogudu is getting steady collections and might break even in few areas at the end of the run, although it’s too early to say. As things stand today its doing well.
Below Average: Yamudiki Mogudu.
Flop: Sarocharu and Genius.
Disaster: Yeto Vellipoindi Manasu*, Yamaho Yama, Devaraya and Ko Ante Koti.

*Yeto Vellipoindi Manasu was good in Hyderabad city.

A note on the verdicts:
We have observed that there is a lot of confusion regarding how we have arrived at a particular verdict for a film. Here is the methodology that we have taken and mind you it a lenient one as terms should be a lot stricter. There are 8 territories in AP according to the trade. Our verdicts are strictly based on the recovery of the film from distribution perspective. Satellite rights and audio etc rights are not counted as they are mostly beneficial for the producer.

Washout: More than 75% loss in all territories
Disaster: Non recovery in all areas and more than 50% loss.
Flop: 25%-50% loss in all areas
Below Average: Breakeven or Marginal profits in 2 areas
Average: Breakeven or Marginal profits in 4 areas
Above Average: Breakeven or Marginal profits in 6 areas
Hit: Breakeven or Marginal profits in all areas

To make it clear lets take a controversial example Dhammu and Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu. Here Dhammu is termed a below average as it has managed to breakeven courtesy a distribution deal which brings three territories (Nellore, Krishna and Guntur) as part of it. On the other hand Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu did not breakeven in any of the territory barring Nizam and hence a flop despite having higher share than Dhammu.

Checkout 2012′s First Half Report Here:TFI Hits N Misses: Half Yearly Report – 2012

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)