In the first week of March, as many as ten films arrived in theatres at the same time. All of them were small-budget productions.
Among them, the only film that drew some attention was Mrutyunjaya. The thriller starring Sreevishnu, however, turned out to be a flop in theatres.
Alongside it, Saraswati, directed by Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, also failed at the box office.
Another small film titled Sampradayini Suppini Suddapoosani, starring Sivaji and Laya, ended up as an outright disaster.
The film was originally planned for a direct OTT release, but it was brought to theatres hoping it might pull off a surprise. The result, however, was zero.
The second week passed without any releases, as producers stayed away from the date expecting Ustaad Bhagat Singh. As a result, theatres had no fresh content for two crucial weeks of the month.
The much-anticipated Ustaad Bhagat Singh finally arrived in the third week. Starring Pawan Kalyan and directed by Harish Shankar, the film opened to mixed talk on the first day.
By the second day, the response had turned negative, and by the third day it was clear that the film was heading towards a flop. In fact, it couldn’t even hold strongly through its opening weekend.
The movie collected Rs 34.75 crore net across India on its first day, but saw an almost 80 percent drop on the second day.
Despite having the advantage of a long weekend and the festive season, the film couldn’t sustain at the box office due to weak content.
It failed to cross even Rs 100 crore gross in its first seven days and ended up as one of the biggest flops in Pawan Kalyan’s career.
The fourth week again saw small films lining up for release. Titles like Youth, Band Melam, and Happy Raj arrived in theatres.
Band Melam, starring the Court pair Harsh Roshan and Sridevi, turned out to be an extremely boring watch.
There were expectations that Youth might become another Little Hearts, but it too failed at the box office. Meanwhile, Happy Raj, starring GV Prakash Kumar, also ended up as a flop.
From small films like Band Melam, to mid-range movies like Mrutyunjaya, to a big-budget project like Ustaad Bhagat Singh, nothing really worked.
Yet, if the Tollywood box office showed any activity in March, the credit goes to Dhurandhar 2.
The dubbed film Dhurandhar 2, starring Ranveer Singh, helped keep the Tollywood box office afloat. While Ustaad Bhagat Singh, which was expected to deliver, failed to support theatres, Dhurandhar 2 unexpectedly stepped in and became the saviour.
Had there been no Dhurandhar 2 in March, the theatres would have tasted bitter losses.
Even though theatres rent out their screens for film screenings, that income alone is not enough to sustain operations or pay staff salaries. Most theatres depend heavily on revenue from refreshments.
Industry estimates suggest that, on average, each viewer spends around Rs 60–Rs 70 at the snack counters. So unless the theatres run close to full capacity, generating sufficient revenue becomes quite difficult.
