MUMBAI: Move over Salaar vs Dunki because 2024 is about to begin with a bang in the Telugu states with not two or three but five films hitting screens for Sankranthi. And that's not counting the Telugu-dubbed Tamil and Hindi releases. 

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Despite weeks of debate among the producers in Tollywood, it looks like none of the five filmmakers are willing to budge from releasing their films this festive season. Amid rumours of some films getting postponed, here's what we know.

Trivikram Srinivas’ much-awaited Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela and Meenakshi Chaudhary starrer Guntur Kaaram, apart from Prashanth Varma’s Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar starrer HanuMan will release on January 12.

On January 13, Sailesh Kolanu’s Venkatesh, Ruhani Sharma, Shraddha Srinath and Andrea Jeremiah starrer Saindhav, apart from Karthik Ghattamaneni’s Ravi Teja and Kavya Thapar starrer Eagle are hitting screens. Scheduled for release on January 14 is Vijay Binni’s Nagarjuna, Ashika Ranganath, Allari Naresh and Raj Tarun starrer Naa Saami Ranga.

Film critic Jalapathy shared on X that the makers of Eagle are considering postponing their film, with the release date shifted to January 26 for Republic Day. “Ravi Tejas’ #Eagle withdraws from the Sankranthi race and will release on Republic Day (January 26). This move will benefit all other films that have been battling for sufficient number of theaters. This Sankranthi 2024 will therefore feature four Telugu films in competition (sic),” they wrote, causing confusion.

Ravi Tejas’ #Eagle withdraws from the Sankranthi race and will release on Republic Day (January 26).

This move will benefit all other films that have been battling for sufficient number of theaters.

This Sankranthi 2024 will therefore feature four Telugu films in competition.…

— Jalapathy Gudelli (@JalapathyG) January 4, 2024

However, a representative of Eagle told Hindustan Times, “As of now there’s no clarity on the film’s postponement. So, the film will be released as planned. The makers believe the film will do good business if it releases on Sankranthi versus any other date.” Earlier there were also rumours of HanuMan getting postponed, before Mythri Movie Makers came on-board to distribute the film.

Sankranthi has always been the time of the year that filmmakers in Telugu states have struck gold. For years now, many of them time releases around the festival, especially if they're making family-friendly movies. Cinema-goers in the Telugu states also look forward to catching the latest release in the theatres with their families on this day.

In 2023, Balakrishna and Shruti Haasan starrer Veera Simha Reddy and Chiranjeevi and Shruti starrer Waltair Veerayya clashed at the box office. Much like how Vijay’s Varisu released in Telugu as Vaarasudu last year, Dhanush’s Captain Miller will also release in Telugu this year on January 12, apart from Sivakarthikeyan’s Ayalaan. Sriram Raghavan's Hindi film Merry Christmas, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif will also vie for theatres on the same date.

Much like Eagle, Rajinikanth’s Lal Salaam is rumoured to have been postponed but there’s no confirmation from the makers yet.

Filmmaker and president of Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce Dil Raju held a press meet last week to discuss the clutter, given that he's distributing Guntur Kaaram. “As a senior I can only advise but not force anyone to postpone their film,” he said, adding, “If we clutter theatres this Sankranthi, not all films will do good business. Some of the films will also get fewer theatres. In such a scenario, only films that are actually good will work on the day of Sankranthi and later on.”

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He went on to add that the chamber hopes that five films won’t clash this festive season. “We called everyone involved and spoke to them, we’re waiting to see if anyone postpones. I am not taking any names but at least one or two films must be postponed. Whoever postpones will get a solo release date later on. History has always seen at least three films clash during Sankranthi but five is a little too much,” he said.

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Credits - Hindustan Times