Sankranti 2023 has brought surprising turns for Telugu cinema. Initially, all attention was on Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram ahead of the festival, given the successful past collaboration with director Trivikram Srinivas. Trivikram’s previous film, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, had achieved pan-Indian success. However, as the Sankranti releases hit the screens, the focus of the Telugu audience shifted unexpectedly towards Teja Sajja’s HanuMan, emerging as the sole winner at the box office.
While Guntur Kaaram showed an upswing in box office collections over the weekend, it couldn’t match up to HanuMan. On Day 9 (Saturday), Guntur Kaaram collected Rs 3.25 crore domestically. Despite increased footfalls on Day 10, with a significant rise in collections, the film continued to lag behind HanuMan. On Day 10, Guntur Kaaram’s collection reached Rs 3.50 crore, bringing the total box office collection to Rs 118 crore. Meanwhile, HanuMan, which earned Rs 14.6 crore on Day 9, recorded an impressive Rs 16.50 crore on Day 10. HanuMan’s total box office collection now exceeds Rs 130 crore domestically, surpassing Mahesh Babu’s film by a considerable margin.
The other Sankranti releases, Nagarjuna’s Naa Saami Ranga and Venkatesh’s Sanidhav, have collected Rs 26 crore and 14 crore respectively. Clearly, HanuMan has become the audience’s preferred choice.
This outcome has surprised trade analysts and Telugu cinema fans, given Mahesh Babu’s significant market presence in the industry. The film’s producer, Naga Vamsi, acknowledged in a recent press meet that the initial setback in the film’s performance was due to Guntur Kaaram’s promotional strategy. He mentioned that having 1 am shows for Guntur Kaaram was counterproductive, as people expected a film with a vibe similar to KFG and Salaar. “This is a family cinema… a Trivikram film. I’m not comparing them, but it was a mistake to release a Trivikram sir film, a mother-son bond film, at 1 am. It was not a good choice,” he explained.
