Vijay Deverakonda’s Ranabaali is just five days away from release, but the pre-release buzz is not picking up the way it should. The biggest worry is coming from overseas, the market that has always been Vijay’s strongest territory. USA premiere advance bookings for Ranabaali are still in the range of $50K, a number far below what a Vijay Deverakonda film usually does at this stage.
Kingdom Set the Bar High
To understand how low this is, look at Vijay’s last release. Kingdom opened massively across all areas and registered $930K from its USA premieres alone. Going by the current trend, Ranabaali even reaching 50 percent of that number looks tough, and that is with all passes enabled.
For a film of this scale, this is a surprise. Ranabaali is a big-budget period action drama directed by Rahul Sankrityan, the filmmaker who gave Nani Shyam Singha Roy. Mythri Movie Makers is producing, Ajay-Atul are composing the music, and Vijay is reuniting with Rashmika Mandanna after Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade. The film is set in Rayalaseema during British rule, with Vijay playing a warrior who takes on British officers. The trailer was released on October 8, and the film releases worldwide on October 16 in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.
Dasara Can Still Change the Story
There is a big positive on Ranabaali’s side: the release date. The film is arriving during the Dasara festival season, one of the strongest holiday windows for Telugu cinema. Even if the opening is slower than expected, the holidays give it a long runway. With good positive word of mouth, everything can turn around.
The team has also made a smart call in the Telugu States by not going for ticket price hikes. Normal prices will help families and regular audiences step into theatres, and if the talk is positive, this decision will help the film grow day by day instead of dropping after the opening.
The Jailer 2 Factor
Competition is also a factor. Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2 is releasing a day earlier on October 15 and will definitely have an impact on screens and collections, especially overseas and in Tamil Nadu. But in the end, content wins. A good film during Dasara can easily hold its own.
India Bookings Next
Bookings in India are set to open soon, and the film is expected to see a better trend here than overseas. The next few days will be crucial. If the buzz builds in the final days before release, Ranabaali can still get a respectable start. If not, the film will have to depend fully on word of mouth to deliver over the Dasara holidays.
