Disasters Of Tollywood 2023: These Telugu Films Failed Big Time In Meeting The Box-Office Expectations

2023 has not been a great year for many star actors in Telugu — Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, Ravi Teja, Vijay Devarakonda, and Samantha.

In the case of Megastar Chiranjeevi, he started off the New Year well with a commercial hit Waltair Veerayya. Though not a great film, the festival season of Sankranthi along with the mass elements made it a profitable venture.

However, his Bhola Shankar failed big time in getting a thumbs-up from critics and audiences.

Chiranjeevi’s co-star in Waltair Veerayya, Ravi Teja also delivered big financial disasters in the form of Ravanasura and Tiger Nageswara Rao in 2023.

Likewise, Pawan Kalyan’s Bro did not attract the audience in a big way, despite Trivikram writing the screenplay and dialogues.

Following is an overview of some of the Telugu films that failed to meet the expectations:

Bhola Shankar

Nothing worked for Bhola Shankar since its inception. Its director Meher Ramesh delivered two massive disasters before this — Shakti (2011) and Shadow (2013). In fact, he never had a significant success in his career.

On top of that, Bhola Shankar was a remake of a regular commercial potboiler Vedalam (2015, Tamil), which had nothing extraordinary in terms of storyline.

So, it was quite baffling to see Chiranjeevi remaking this, that too with a flop director.

Expectedly, the film bombed even with the loyal fans.

Meher Ramesh made Vedalam look like a classic with his direction.

The most cringeworthy scene in Bhola Shankar is the recreation of the famous bench scene of Khushi (2000) where Pawan Kalyan keeps looking at Bhumika’s navel. Here, you had Chiranjeevi and anchor Sreemukhi. It was so awkwardly filmed and definitely was not a pretty sight.

Ravanasura and Tiger Nageswara Rao

Both Ravanasura and Tiger Nageswara Rao had interesting storylines where Ravi Teja did push himself as an actor.

For example, Tiger Nageswara Rao was based on a real-life dacoit and the events that happened in Andhra Pradesh in the 1970s.

Ravi Teja’s character had some grey shades, which the actor pulled off with conviction.

However, the problem was with the inconsistent direction of Vamsee along with repetitive shots of bloodshed. What also did not help Tiger Nageswara Rao were the romantic subplots of Ravi Teja with his leading ladies.

Ravanasura, too, had Ravi Teja playing a character with grey shades.

In the beginning, we see him as a bumbling junior lawyer, but soon enough, there is a significant U-turn. Ravi Teja did a fantastic job of portraying the unhinged nature of his role.

However, his efforts were not enough to save the movie from drowning.

A major reason for the failure of Ravanasura was the haphazard flashback of his character Ravindra. Viewers did not feel any emotional connection with him.

Once the flashback ends, the proceedings become even more tedious.

Only the Ramayana connection was well done, but it does not add much to the film in the overall scheme of things.

Kushi

Shiva Nirvana’s Kushi was a crucial film for Vijay Devarakonda, Samantha, and of course, the director himself.

As the title suggests, Kushi had a safe subject, which could have given a lot of happiness to everyone. However, Shiva Nirvana did not make complete use of this opportunity.

Kushi had an interesting backdrop of two vastly different families. The hero’s father is a staunch atheist who does not shy away from expressing his opinions on God and astrology.

The heroine’s father, on the other hand, is not just a staunch believer in God but also gives religious lectures.

In structure, Kushi is similar to Mani Ratnam’s Sakhi (2000). Like Sakhi, here too, you have two rebellious lovers who decide to make their own home.

Both Vijay Devarakonda and Samantha delivered good performances and shared a scintillating chemistry on screen.

But the first half of Kushi dragged a lot, particularly in portions where Samantha’s Aaradhya is pretending to be a Muslim. As a result, viewers felt restlessness, despite Vennela Kishore’s comic excellence.

The second half was much better when the focus shifted to marital issues. When Samantha’s character has a miscarriage, she thinks that it happened because of her husband not doing homa (homam). Expectedly, some serious arguments lead to discord in domestic life.

The music of Hesham Abdul Wahab was melodious for the most part. However, all these elements were not enough to save Kushi from bombing.

Bro

Bro, directed by Samuthirakani, had a decent pre-release buzz, thanks mostly to Sai Dharam Tej and Pawan Kalyan coming together. Additionally, you had Trivikram writing screenplays and dialogues.

Markandeya (Sai Dharam Tej) is a man with many family responsibilities. He cannot afford to give time to anyone, including his girlfriend. One day, he meets with a road accident on the way from Visakhapatnam. Pawan Kalyan plays “Titan”, also known as the God of Time.

He gives Markandeya 90 days to complete his duties. In these 90 days, Markandeya undergoes a major transformation.

Stories revolving around God-giving life lessons are as old as hills. Still, they can be engaging if the narration is interesting.

Unfortunately, both Samuthirakani’s direction and Trivikram’s screenplay were subpar.

Bro had too many references to Pawan Kalyan’s political ideology and his previous hit songs.

It was clear that Samuthirakani banked heavily on audiences coming to see real-life mama-alludu (uncle-nephew) on screen. The chemistry between Sai Dharam Tej and Pawan Kalyan was pleasant but nothing great.

Agent

Director Surender Reddy’s Agent tried to be an action-packed spy entertainer like Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan, but the required sharpness was missing.

The film was definitely lavish in scale along with some well-executed action sequences.

However, Agent suffered from a meandering storyline along with a vapid heroine — Sakshi Vaidya.

Another problem with the Telugu film was the weak back-story of Dino Morea’s character, who calls himself God.

Akhil, in his new avatar, delivered an uninhibited performance, but that was not enough to save the film from sinking badly.

Skanda

Boyapati Srinu’s Skanda is a signature Boyapti macho film that is high on testosterone but low on emotional coherence.

The director has been most successful with Nandamuri Balakrishna. Their duo delivered three blockbusters — Simha (2010), Legend (2014) and last year’s Akhanda (2022).

However, Boyapati Srinu did not have the same level of success as other actors like Ramcharan in Vinaya Vidheya Rama (2019) and now Ram in Skanda.

At its core, Skanda is a tale of revenge with the backdrop of the two-state chief ministers. Ram tried his level best to save this sinking ship. He definitely looked at ease in this Boyapati universe, but the film, on the whole, did not appeal to even hardcore Boyapati fans.

Shaakuntalam

After burning hands with the 2015-released Rudramadevi, director Gunasekhar yet again tried his hand with a large-scale epic. This time, the film is based on the famous play Abhigyana Shakuntalam, written by the legendary playwright Kalidas.

Gunasekhar tried to marry the sensibilities of an Indian epic with the texture of a Hollywood Disney film.

But Shaakuntalam turned out to be an even bigger dud than Rudramadevi. It was a colossal disaster, particularly for Gunasekhar and Samantha.

Samantha did justice to the different shades of Shakuntala; the naivety of an ashram girl in the beginning and then, the inner strength of a wronged woman.

Shaakuntalam had its share of powerful moments, like the court scene where Shakuntala questions the inability of Dev Mohan’s Dushyant to recognise her.

Allu Arha also made a sparkling debut in her short screen time. But the film never came across as a cohesive whole.

Bheemla Nayak: A Boisterous Second Half And Rana Saves The Day

Saagar K Chandra’s Bheemla Nayak tries to be a mix of retaining the spirit of the original Ayyappanum Koshiyum, but at the same time there is lot of fan appeasement particularly in the second half. The director has taken the Adivasi background with Pawan Kalyan’s character being a demi god for the locals. However, the Adivasi background doesn’t really add much value to the story except for the climax. The Adivasi characters are purely there to worship Bheemla and to sing praises of him.

For most part of the first half Pawan Kalyan is subdued. Rana Daggubati’s Daniel Shekhar provokes him multiple times but Bheemla doesn’t give in. Honestly nothing much happens in the first half, it is more like a filler for what is to follow in the second one. But it isn’t a complete bore either thanks to Nithya Menon’s Sugana. It is fun to watch her in her firebrand character. The second half is definitely much better but more on that once we are done discussing the story.

This Ayyappanum Koshiyum remake is set in the forest region connecting Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In the opening minute we see Bheemla Nayak paying his obeisance to the forest, the next shot is Rana Daggubati’s introduction. We see him resting in a car; he tells his driver that the tiger is resting after a few drinks. A folk number by S Thaman leads the audiences through the terrain. Daniel Shekhar does not think it is a crime to have a stash of alcohol when his car is going through the forest zone. Expectedly a clash happens between Daniel and the cops, this leads to something bigger. There is also a back-story to Bheemla which all the villagers know but they won’t discuss it. It is considered a ‘sacred’ oath. Murali Sharma plays Kodandram. He desperately tries to bring some peace. While Ayyapum Koshiyam tackled class divisions among other aspects here those are downplayed significantly. Also while there is a certain restrained approach in the first half still there is no getting away from the hero elevation. The best example of that is the title song where you have ample slow mo shots and hundreds of junior artists.

Rana Daggubati promises epic clash with Pawan Kalyan's Bheemla Nayak in new  teaser | Entertainment News,The Indian Express
Rana Daggubati : Ample scope to showcase his towering personality

The movie gets more into the zone after Bheemla is stripped of his official duties. The scenes between Pawan and Rana are more powerful in the second half. It is fun to watch the actors taking on each other. One of the good things here is that Rana isn’t reduced to a junior artist; he gets ample scope to showcase his towering personality. He perfectly carries the attitude of the character from scene 1, his scenes with Samyukhta who plays the wife is quite good to watch. In these scenes we see a softer side to him. Also there is certain decency to his role; this comes through when Rao Ramesh’s character suggests Daniel to use Bheemla’s wife Sugana as a bait in his battle with Bheemla. Daniel scolds him saying that don’t you have shame in suggesting a thing like this.

Bheemla Nayak Movie News: Samyuktha Menon confirms she will be part of 'Bheemla  Nayak'
Samyukta Menon, debut in Telugu films

The romance between Pawan Kalyan and Nitya Menon is also interesting because Nitya Menon’s character is no push over. She is appropriately spunky.

The climax fight is too elongated but it still makes an impact. The emotional touch at the end of the fight is quite good.

Pawan Kalyan as Bheemla is suitably restrained and also explosive when required. But his performance comes across as indifferent. The energy levels that you associate with the actor are missing for the most part.

The supporting cast hasn’t got much to do. They are mostly there to watch the show from the sidelines.

The first half as I said is quite a bore. One major reason for that is the mishmash of sensibilities and not knowing what approach to take. Also the music is one big letdown. There is an attempt to give it an earthy touch but it comes across as more artificial. This can be particularly seen in the title song.

Watch Bheemla Nayak for the confrontation scenes between Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati

Vakeel Saab Versus Pink: This Pink Remake Works Best Only When It Sticks To Its Original Source

There are certain things that you need to keep in mind as a viewer when you are watching Vakeel Saab. The chief most among them are the extra masala elements that are added to satisfy Pawan Kalyan fans. The masala in this one includes three fight scenes and the absolutely unnecessary romantic track with Shruti Haasan. Nerkonda Paarvai starring Ajith as the lawyer also had a couple of additions but the changes there fitted in more seamlessly when compared to this one. Following is my opinion on the areas where Vakeel Saab works and the areas where it could have been better. 

Not surprisingly the biggest strength of Vakeel Saab is the second half. It is in this half that the story finds its footing. The courtroom face off between Pawan Kalyan and Prakash Raj engages you completely. Both the actors share a wonderful chemistry and it is very clear that they had a blast shooting these scenes. Of course the tone of these scenes is more masala laced but there is enough meat here to keep you hooked. Out of the three films Prakash Raj is easily the best opponent lawyer and beats Piyush Mishra by miles in the Hindi version. 

The second half also works better because the focus is on the stories of the three women and the situation that they are caught in. In spite of having a star like Pawan Kalyan director Sriram Venu doesn’t side track the main theme of the film which is a no is a no. He effectively uses the star to get the message across. 

Thaman’s Music and background score is another major winner. The film begins off with the beautiful Maguva Maguva. This song has been used by the director to establish the bond between the three women played by Nivetha Thomas, Anjali and Ananya. Other songs like Satyameva Jayate come at appropriate times and pack quite a punch. The female version of Maguva Maguva in particular is very emotional. 

Coming to Pawan Kalyan it would be unfair to compare the actor to Amitabh Bachchan and Ajit for many reasons. However it has to be said that he does well in the courtroom scenes. The performances of Nivetha and Anjali are also very good. They bring out the different feelings of the character really well. Ananya also does a fair job. 

The biggest grouse that I have with the film is pre- interval portions of Pawan Kalyan as the savior of people. It is peppered with scenes that will give you a major deja vu as we have seen this in many commercial films in the past. The character has also got shades of Sunny Deol from the film Damini

The love story between him and Shruti Haasan is another thing which will test your patience. Shruti Haasan hasn’t got anything to do and even in the slight emotional scenes she messes it up big time. It was a track which wasn’t needed in the first place. 

The fight scenes aren’t bad but they don’t really add much to the film. Except for the fight in the park the other two could have been easily chopped off. 

In totality chances are that if you are a fan of Pawan Kalyan you would enjoy the film more. For those who have already watched Pink keep low expectations if you are planning to watch Vakeel Saab. But keeping aside the comparisons, it is good to see a film like this being made in so many languages. The important point is the message has to go down –  A NO IS A NO. 

https://www.primepost.in/vakeel-saab-versus-pink/