The Hindu Business Line : 20 films vying for holiday season pie

Hands full
This is the first time so many movies are releasing during the summer season
Short of cinemas seen to be a major issue
West Indies-India cricket matches to be aired in the evenings may have an impact
on evening shows

Hyderabad , April 24

A good monsoon and a rewarding crop last year bolstered the Telugu film industry to line up nearly 20 films, all worth Rs 150 crore, for release in the summer season. It hopes to cash in on the increased spending capacity in rural areas.

While some of the projects have been deferred, keeping in mind the examination schedules, others have been specifically targeted at the summer holiday season.

The season began with the success of the Nagarjuna-starrer Sri Ramadasu, rekindling the hopes of the industry that went through a very bad patch last year.

A senior industry analyst said this was the first time so many movies were vying to get a share of the pie in a short span of time. The list includes big-budget movies like Pournami (starring Prabhas), Pokiri (Mahesh Babu), Veerabhadra (Balakrishna), Bangaram (Pawan Kalyan) and Vikramarkudu (Raviteja). The fact that these five films alone would cost about Rs 80 crore showed the kind of investments made on the summer fare.

The list of releases also included smaller budget films including Kitakitalu (directed by E.V.V. Satyanarayana) and Neeto Nenunna (directed by Sai Venkat).

But the million-dollar question is, how many of these films will succeed in attracting crowds to cinemas. Success rate of Telugu films in the recent past has not been so encouraging. Only six movies, including Lakshmi, Style and Devadas, tasted success this year.

Mr Muralikrishnam Raju, who does in-film merchandising and film promotion, felt that shortage of cinemas was a major issue. "A film like Pournami is normally released in 350 cinemas. At least four major films (Pournami, Pokiri, Virabhadra and Bangaram) are slated for release in a spate of just two weeks.

"All of them definitely look for good cinemas in prime locations at least in the first two-three weeks of their release," he said.

Cricket threat

Yet another concern for the film producers is the upcoming West Indies tour of Indian cricket team. The series, beginning in the second week of May, is likely to cover the entire summer season.

The matches would generally begin in the evenings (because of the difference in the time zone).

This is likely to hit the evening shows, preferred most by the people in the season.

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20 films vying for holiday season pie

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