Sudigali Sudheer’s GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) has turned into a big disaster at the box office. After years of delays, controversies and a change of director, the film finally reached theatres on November 12, but it couldn’t manage even a respectable opening.
GOAT Box Office
Day 1: ₹30 Lakh gross
Day 2: ₹15 Lakh gross
The film collected only around ₹30 lakh gross on its opening day, and on Day 2 it fell to around ₹15 lakh. These numbers aren’t enough to cover even the theatre rents.
GOAT is now heading for a closing collection of under ₹1 Cr, which means no theatrical share at all for the makers, and not even enough to recover the release expenses.
A Troubled Journey
GOAT has had one of the most troubled journeys of any recent Telugu film.
The project was first announced with Naresh Kuppili (Narresh K Lee) as director. He was later dropped from the film, and Vedavyas took over as director.
The change led to a public controversy. The former director called heroine Divya Bharathi “Chilaka” in a post on X. Divya Bharathi hit back, calling the term degrading and a reflection of misogyny, and alleged that he had repeatedly disrespected women on set.
Date After Date
The film then went through a string of release dates. It was first planned for February, then got a U/A certificate and was locked for March 26. That date passed as well, and it took until November 12 for GOAT to finally reach theatres.
Big Promises, No Takers
Producer Chandrasekhar Reddy Mogulla made the film under Mahateja Creations and Jaishnav Productions, with Asian Cinemas presenting. He repeatedly said that GOAT was being made on a lavish scale without compromising on the budget, and at the pre-release event he went as far as saying the film would be a landmark for Sudheer, just as Khaidi was for Chiranjeevi.
The film is a cricket-based comedy with a message against online betting, with Divya Bharathi as the female lead.
A Massive Loss
After spending big on the film and carrying it through years of delays, getting this result is a massive loss for the makers. For Sudigali Sudheer, who has a big fan base from television, it is a major setback in his career as a lead hero.
