Telugu Cinema's All Time Top 5 Hits

 

Attarintiki Daaredi is the new ‘industry hit’ and it is being said that it has created a record by making more money than Magadheera.

SS Rajamouli, Magadheera’s director too has wished the team of Attarintiki Daaredi for it turning out to be the biggest hit of Telugu cinema.So, now there is lots of curiosity about which films make it to the top 5 list and what is the criteria for a blockbuster in the Telugu industry.

Hence, we will try to list out the top 5 films and analyse why they became top grosser.

Top 5 films:

1. Attarinitiki Daaredi

2. Magadheera

3. Gabbar Singh

4. Dookudu

5. Seetamma Vakitlo Siri Malle Chettu

One common factor about all these is that they managed to make Rs 50 crore in terms of distributor shares worldwide. (Share = Gross+tax+theatre rents). Mirchi came in sixth position as it could not reach the Rs 50 crore mark. Hence, for a film to make to the Top 5 list in the Telugu industry, the new benchmark is to reach the Rs 50 crore mark. Now a look at what helped them make it to the top…

1. Attarintiki Daaredi

Magadheera released in 2009 and since then no hit film managed to come close to the total collections made by Magadheera.

As the ticket rates increased in the second half of 2013, analysts were hopeful that a blockbuster could now beat the Magadheera record.

As anticipated, Attarintiki Daaredi did manage to turn the increased ticket rates into profit and crossed the Magadheera record.

It has also managed to set a new benchmark as it is likely to make Rs 75 crore by the time it has its full run.

But attributing the success of Attarintiki Daaredi solely to increased ticket rates is not appropriate.

The film is a class, family entertainer. Usually, such films make it to a certain level. It is no easy task for films of this genre to cross that level.

Of course, Pawan Kalyan’s star power and the increased ticket rates did help the film.

The film had to face hurdles at every step before turning out to be a blockbuster. Even before the release, it was hit by piracy. Also, the situation in the state was volatile.

As expected, the Samaikyandhra agitation in Seemandhra put the film through an acid test in the second week of its release. But the film managed to overcome these problems and headed towards becoming a success.

This was followed by the floods in certain areas that impacted the collections of the film. If such problems did not exist, the film would have managed to make Rs 80 crore share and turned out to be a milestone film in the 80-year history of Telugu cinema.

Note: It is possible for future films to make more money than Attarintiki Daaredi if various factors work in their favour. But Attarintiki Daaredi will always have a special place in the history of Telugu cinema as it remains to be one film that made such huge collections despite facing so many troubles.

2. Magadheera

Magadheera’s success can be said to be an unattainable feat and is nothing short of a miracle. At the time of the film’s release, there was no trend of releasing a big film in more than 1000 theatres.

The total share that the biggest hit could manage prior to Magadheera was Rs 36 crore. This record set by Pokiri remained for almost three years.

A few films that released after Pokiri did manage to get a share of more than Rs 30 crore, but none of them reached the Rs 36 crore mark of Pokiri. Due to this, it was felt that an average Telugu film’s range was between Rs 30 to Rs 35 crore.

Magadheera that released during this time proved that a Telugu film could breach this mark and also made everyone sit up and take notice of the industry.

After easily surpassing the Pokiri share, it simply went to make more money.

SS Rajamouli made a film that compelled the audience to come to theatres to watch it on the big screen.

Even Ram Charan who failed to make a mark with his debut film, cemented his place in the history of Telugu cinema.

Hence, none of the films could match up to the success of Magadheera after that. Magadheera released on July 31, 2009, and no film could manage hit talk after it. Hence, Magadheera had a long run which was beyond expectations.

Even third party buyers who shelled out large amounts for share guarantee made merry with overflows. The film even managed to get mind-blowing shares during the Dassera time this year.

The kind of success it garnered created a place for it which could not be reached by other films.

When Pokiri became a hit, many wondered if another film could break its record. Magadheera not only broke the record, it did so with double margin.

With a total share of Rs 72 crore, Magadheera not only became the biggest Telugu hit, it also became an all India hit in terms of shares. It outdid Aamir Khan’s Ghajini and enjoyed the top slot for a while.

In the south, the film became a major discussion point for being such a huge success story.

We can understand how big the film was by the fact that no film could touch its earnings till the ticket prices were hiked.

Despite a hike in ticket prices, Attarintiki Daaredi is still struggling to reach the share mark that Magadheera attained with earlier ticket prices. Though it had an edge due to overseas market, it is yet to break the record set by Magadheera in the state.

The Rs 13 crore share record that Magadheera set in the Ceded area, is still very hard to beat. By releasing films in nearly 1000 theatres and increased ticket rates could push the share of Telugu films to Rs 100 crore in the coming days. But it is a fact that no film can beat the records set by Magadheera.

The film has been etched in gold in the history of Telugu cinema.

3. Gabbar Singh

If the film is released in the maximum number of theatres, then a top hero’s film can manage Rs 50 crore share – this fact was proven by Dookudu.

However, despite having lots of potential and crowd pulling capacity, Pawan Kalyan had to wait for 11 years to get the kind of success that he was capable of. This happened with Gabbar Singh.

The film was declared a blockbuster on the very first day of its release. Since then Power Star’s hunt for records had begun.

Prior to Attarintiki Daaredi, Gabbar Singh was the film that reached the Rs 50 crore share mark real fast. As it made the fastest fifty, there was anticipation as to whether it would cross the Magadheera mark.

However, Gabbar Singh lacked the visual excellence of Magadheera. Since it was a usual mass entertainer, it’s range was restricted. Still, it managed to become a film which reached the Rs 60 crore mark after Magadheera.

The film established the fact that Pawan had the capacity to give an all-time hit if he was part of a good film. And as expected, Pawan got Attarintiki Daaredi in the consecutive year which broke all records.

With a share of over Rs 61 crore, Gabbar Singh enjoys the third place in the chart.

4. Dookudu

After setting a benchmark with Pokiri, Mahesh had to struggle for a while before he created magic yet again. Mahesh did not come into form till after Magadheera broke the records set by Pokiri.

Dookudu that released in 2011 set the trend for releasing a film in maximum number of theatres.

With Businessman, the number of theatres was increased to 1000 and this became a norm for a big hero film. Mahesh made a mark on all sections of the audience with Dookudu.

Since it had very good openings, there were expectations about it setting new records.

One could gauge the range of a Telugu film in the overseas market with this film. It turned out that the Telugu films could have double the capacity of what they had earlier.

If one looks area wise, no film could beat Magadheera. But Mahesh with Dookudu managed to beat Magadheera overseas. All films that followed cashed in on Dookudu’s formula and made money in the overseas market.

After Magadheera, Dookudu was the film that crossed the Rs 50 crore mark. Till then, it was felt that Magadheera was an exception and that the range of a Telugu film was between Rs 35 and 40 crore. But Dookudu proved that Telugu films did have the stamina to cross the Rs 50 crore mark. However, the film was way behind Magadheera. After managing Rs 55 crore, Dookudu remains in the fourth position in the Top 5. It tops the charts among Mahesh films.

5. Seetamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu

Given the kind of hype and expectations that one had from the first true multi-starrer in a long time, it was felt that Seetamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu would make it to one of the top two positions.

However, since the film lacked the entertainment element, it failed to reach that position.

But the pre-release hype helped the film and it managed to just about cross the Rs 50 crore mark world wide.

The success it had in the overseas market helped it in reaching that mark. If one looks at the business it made in the state, then, it is way below Mirchi and Nayak. With this, we can understand the impact of the overseas market on the all-time records.

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