There was a time when Balakrishna movies with poor or mixed word of mouth could manage around Rs 20 crores. Even in the case of positive talk, his films could collect around Rs 40- 50 crores. This has now become a thing of the past, and Balayya has stunned everyone with his market growth in recent times.
With Akhanda, he has started a new innings of sorts. After Akhanda, he delivered Veera Simha Reddy, Bhagavanth Kesari, and now Daaku Maharaaj. All four of these films were box office hits and collected more than 70 Cr shares and 100 Cr gross worldwide. Unfortunately, they fell just short of the 100 Cr share club for various external reasons.
Akhanda– Akhanda was affected by lower ticket prices domestically and the Corona scare overseas. If Akhanda had released with current ticket prices it would have achieved more than 100 Cr share easily. This Boyapati film brought a huge number of audiences to theatres from all sections.
Veera Simha Reddy– Veera Simha Reddy was released with huge hype but the content catered only to mass audiences and failed to satisfy all sections. For this reason, this Gopichand Malineni film also could not cross 100 Cr club.
Bhagavanth Kesari: Bhagavanth Kesari somehow failed to create initial buzz. The opening was average and on top of that, CBN’s arrest also affected the film. The film brought a family audience and failed to capture the masses as it happened with Veera Simha Reddy.
Daaku Maharaaj: Now Daaku Maharaaj has also failed to satisfy all sections of the audience, A vast majority of family audiences are prefering only Sankranthiki Vasthunnam. This has led to the movie falling short of 100 Cr.
Balakrishna’s market improved a lot and his last four films have done a solid business and emerged as box office hits. But the 100 Cr club is still awaiting. There are high expectations for his next film- Akhanda 2. Since it marks the return of Balayya-Boyapati combo, this film has the best chance of hitting the 100 crore share mark which Akhanda missed due to ticket pricing issues and Corona.