Tollywood Box Office Winners and Losers in the First Half of 2022

The Telugu film industry had a mixed first half of 2022, with massive disappointments such as Acharya on one hand and visual feasts such as Rajamouli’s “RRR,” DJ Tillu’s swag, and Adivi Shesh’s “Major” on the other. The big star films failed to gain traction, whereas the films with the fewest expectations and fanfare were box office successes. Sandalwood and Kollywood have produced two classic blockbusters. In the first half of 2022, only three Tollywood films were successful.

Let’s find out what they are.

Blockbuster Bonanza!

In the first half of 2022, Telugu cinema delivered two blockbusters. The first is the long-awaited Rajamouli masterpiece ‘RRR.’ ‘DJ Tillu,’ the other, is a smash hit. However, “RRR,” which was supposed to be an all-time blockbuster with a budget of Rs 550 crore, came up just short with a worldwide gross of Rs 1111.7 crore. ‘DJ Tillu,’ on the other hand, grossed Rs. 20 crore at the box office.

India Loves Major

Adivi Shesh’s ‘Major’ became a box office smash, grossing nearly 60 crores. The film had a budget of 30 crores. Despite stiff competition from the same-week release ‘Vikram,’ it was able to stand out at the box office. Another movie Nagarjuna’s Bangaraju also made a 60-crore profit during the Sankranti season. 

Superstars failed to cross the average mark.

Tollywood heroes with a large fan base include Superstar Mahesh Babu and Power Star Pawan Kalyan. This year, neither of their films lived up to the fans’ expectations. Despite showing Mahesh Babu in a new light, the film ‘Sarkaru Vari Paata,’ which cost Rs 100 crore to make, only made Rs 187.4 crore due to a lack of originality in the script. The Telugu remake of the Malayalam superhit ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’, starring Powerstar Pawan Kalyan, was made on a budget of 80 crores and grossed 158.5 crores. Anil Ravipudi and Victory Venkatesh’s Combinational F3 was also a flop, grossing only 90 crores on a budget of 70 crores.

‘Mega’ Disasters 

The mega father-son combo ‘Acharya’ debuted to high expectations but bombed at the box office. The film, which cost Rs 140 crore, failed to break even. ‘Acharya’ incurred losses of Rs 73.5 crore. Also, Pan India star Prabhas’ ‘Radhe Shyam’ was a flop. With a budget of Rs 350 crore, it has only made Rs 144 crore, leaving the producers in the red.

Positive talk but Negative collections.

Some Telugu films have become ‘Operation Success But Patient Dead’ in terms of earnings this year. The film is good, but the film collection is a flop. ‘Ante Sundaraniki’ by Nani and Nazriya recently received positive attention, but the collections fell short. The film has so far earned slightly more than Rs 20 crore. Virataparvam by Rana and Sai Pallavi was also along the same lines. As tickets became more expensive in multiplexes, and with the expectation that the film would be available on OTT in less than a month, people were less inclined to flock to theatres.

Other languages’ film dominance in Telugu states

Other language films regained their footing in Telugu states after a brief hiatus. KGF2 and Vikram made enormous profits in Telugu states. Lokesh Kangaraj scored a home run with Vikram. Prashanth Neel’s KGF: Chapter 2 broke all India box office records. KGF2 had a budget of Rs 100 crore and made Rs 1207 crore. Vikram, on the other hand, grossed nearly 400 crores and is still running successfully in theatres. Apart from these, Vijay Sethupathi’s ‘Kathuvakula Rendu Kaadhal,’ late actor Puneet Rajkumar’s ‘James,’ and Alia Bhatt’s “Gangubhai Kathiawadi” films captured the attention of the audience.

The 2022 first half is better when compared to 2021.

So far this year, 44 films have been released in Telugu, with 9 of them becoming box office hits. 88 films were released and 9 hits were recorded during the same period last year. All of the previous year’s hits were released in the second half of 2021. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the second half of the year for Telugu films.

Top-10 Tollywood Movies -2022

* (Still running in theaters.)