Superstar Rajinikanth once had a solid market in the Telugu states. His blockbuster films like Sivaji and Robo grossed big bucks at the ticket counters across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. But that isn’t the case anymore. Kabali was Rajinikanth’s last film that performed well at the box offices across the Telugu states and that too, largely thanks to the pre-release buzz it had garnered. All of Rajini’s recent outings including Kaala, Dabar, and Peddanna are total washouts at the box office.
Notably, Rajinikanth appears to be least bothered about the sensibilities of the Telugu audience. His recent outing Peddanna clearly implies the same. The film is loaded with heavy-duty action blocks and melodramatic scenes that are aimed at Tamil audiences. It doesn’t have what it takes to attract the Telugu audience. As a result, the film disappeared without a trace at the box offices across the twin Telugu states. But in Tamil Nadu, the film is a raging hit.
Box office reports suggest that Peddanna couldn’t even recover 30% of the investments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The buyers lost a whopping amount of money on the project. It is heard that the action drama collected as little as Rs 3 crores in the Telugu states, which is an abysmal number for a Rajinikanth starrer. And on top of that, the film is now gearing up for early OTT premieres. If reports are to go by, Peddanna will be made available for streaming on Sun NXT from the 26th of November, which is just 3 weeks post its theatrical release.
Rajinikanth has been inclined towards working solely with Tamil filmmakers and he isn’t too bothered about his market in Telugu states. If that is the case, what is the point in releasing his films in Telugu? Factually speaking, his films are struggling to even post mention-worthy numbers in AP and Telangana. So, it is better that the Telugu-dubbed versions of Rajinikanth’s films go for direct to OTT release. This way, at least the distributors are saved from humongous losses.
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