Sai Dharam Tej‘s recent theatrical outing Republic disappeared without a trace at the box office. The film was a loss venture for everyone involved. The film is a serious social drama, a genre that isn’t quite popular with all sections of the Telugu audience. The fact that the film released soon after cinema halls resumed operation after the devastating Covid wave and the audience were skeptical about watching new releases in theatres didn’t help the cause either. Incidentally, Republic premiered on ZEE5 on the 26th of November. And as the team implies, the Sai Dharam Tej starrer is doing very well on OTT.
The director Deva Katta has been endorsing and resharing the tweets that heap praises on Republic. He is even reacting to social media users who are speaking highly of the film.
But now, a section of netizens are making a contradicting argument. Incidentally, a netizen tweeted “Logic… Cinema anta baunte.. theatre lo aadali kadaa… Enduku aadaledu..(If the film is so very good, it should have done well at the box office. But it didn’t, why?)” He didn’t quite refer to Republic but given in the context of all the appreciative tweets that are being shared by team Republic, it is easy to connect the dots.
In response, young Telugu actor Sundeep Kishan wrote “Some films don’t manage to reach their target audience theatrically(promotional strategy,release date,universal content) brother …earlier it used to take months or at times years for a good film/Actor to get its/his/her due..today thankfully timelines are changing.” Sundeep’s tweet was endorsed by the executive producer of Republic, meaning it is more or less his reaction to the aforementioned tweet from the netizen.
Until and unless ZEE5 publishes Republic’s streaming minutes on the platform, we can’t quite determine if Republic is actually striking a chord with the Telugu OTT audience, or if all the appreciative tweets on the film are a part of a fabricated propoganda.
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