Tollywood Seem to Trust Dates More Than Stories

In Tollywood, there was a time when a big movie release itself felt like a festival. Fans would celebrate outside theatres, and audiences would make plans to watch their favourite stars. But now, the trend seems to be changing. Many films are planning their releases around festivals because makers believe festivals can automatically bring big collections.

This has once again become clear with the number of movies lining up for the upcoming Dussehra season. Around seven to eight films are reportedly targeting the festival period. This includes Adarsha Kutumbam (#AK47), Comrade Kalyan, Hanuman Ansh, Rana Baali, Jailer 2 and other films.

The big question is whether all these films really need a festival release.

Festivals definitely give movies an advantage. People usually have holidays, families spend more time together and audiences are more interested in going to theatres. A good film can use this opportunity and turn the festival into a big box-office season.

But a festival date alone cannot guarantee success.

Tollywood has also seen many examples where films released during non-festival periods performed very well. If the content is strong and the audience likes the movie, people will come to theatres even on an ordinary weekend. At the same time, a weak film cannot be saved completely just because it arrives during Dussehra, Sankranti or another major festival.

This is where the current trend becomes interesting. Instead of fully trusting the story, performances and audience interest, some heroes and producers appear to be giving too much importance to festival dates.

The problem becomes bigger when several big films target the same festival. Instead of one film enjoying the holiday advantage, multiple movies have to divide the same audience. Screens, shows and collections are also divided. In such a situation, only the films with strong content can survive for a longer run.

A festival can give a movie a good opening, but content decides how long the movie will stay strong.

So, the real question for Tollywood is simple should heroes and filmmakers continue believing that a festival date can bring collections, or should they start believing in the story first and let the audience turn any season into a festival?