Dubbed ‘Rowdy Star’, Vijay Devarakonda was touted to be the next superstar of Telugu cinema, scoring back-to-back hits. But fate had other plans in store for him; the handsome hunk tasted not one but five box-failures in a row of varying degrees, with the comedy thriller Taxiwaala (2018) being his last clean ‘Hit’.

The much-hyped Dear Comrade (2019) posted good opening numbers but emerged as a disaster in the long run, particularly for its slow pace; his next venture, World Famous Lover (2020), was also a box-office bomb. At this point in his career, Vijay promoted himself on a ‘Pan-Indian’ level, pinning high hopes on Puri Jagannadh’s Liger (2022).

The result, as we all know, was a disaster of epic proportions, with critics calling it some of the worst films ever made. His next outing was the romantic drama film Kushi (2023), starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu as the female lead. The film had a lukewarm reception and ended up as an ‘average’ grosser.

While Kushi can be seen as a revive for Devarakonda’s career, he desperately needed a’smash hit’ to mark a comeback into commercial films; he collaborated with Parasuram Petla for the second time after the blockbuster Geetha Govindam (2018). Titled Family Star (2024), this family drama film received mixed reviews from cinegoers and, as expected, bombed at the box office very badly. As you could see, Devarakonda’s career is in serious trouble; the actor has signed a film with Goutham Tinnanuri of Jersey (2019) fame.