The month of May has come to an end — and with it, another summer that offered little for Tollywood to celebrate.
Despite multiple releases, the Telugu box office remained lackluster, with no clear blockbuster in sight.
HIT 3 had a grand release on May 1 and benefited from Nani’s aggressive promotions. The film reportedly grossed ₹43 crore worldwide on its opening day and quickly entered the million-dollar club overseas. Thanks to focused efforts in international markets, HIT 3 earned around ₹82 crore by the end of its first weekend. Although it slowed down later, a lack of strong competition helped it stay afloat.
Alongside HIT 3, two dubbed films — Retro and Thudaram — hit the screens. While Retro, starring Suriya, was rejected outright by the audience, Thudaram found some takers but couldn’t succeed at the box office.
In the second week, Shubham, produced by Samantha, released as a small-budget film. Despite the buzz, it failed to generate positive word-of-mouth and couldn’t break even, earning just ₹4 crore in six days against a ₹6 crore budget (including promotions). However, thanks to non-theatrical rights, the project ended up being profitable for Samantha.
The sleeper hit of the month turned out to be Single, starring Sree Vishnu, which impressed audiences with its entertainment quotient.
Meanwhile, the re-release of Chiranjeevi’s classic Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari made some noise but didn’t leave a major impact.
Through the third and fourth weeks of May, there were barely any notable releases. The only film that held up — mainly in multiplexes — was Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One.
In the final weekend, Bhairavam and the re-release of Khaleja went head-to-head. Khaleja’s popularity overshadowed Bhairavam, which opened to disappointing collections of just ₹2.75 crore gross in AP and Telangana despite a budget of over ₹30 crore. Collections dropped further on day two. Whether it picks up over the weekend remains to be seen. Another release, Shastipoorthi, failed to make any impression.
In summary, May turned out to be a dry spell for Tollywood. HIT 3 ended up as an average grosser, while Single emerged as a surprise success. Fittingly, it was Sree Vishnu who gave this summer its final spark.
