Next Sankranthi, not one or two, but three big-ticket projects will be coming up against each other. Namely, Sarkaru Vaari Paata, Radhe Shya, and Pawan Kalyan’s Ayappanum Koshiyum remake will be hitting the silver screens next Sankranthi season. All these three projects are big-budgeted and they will be releasing amidst sky-high buzz and anticipation. Not often do we see three mainstream Telugu biggies releasing in at the same release window, but we will be seeing something similar next Sankranthi season as Mahesh Babu’s Sarkaru Vaari Paata, Pawan Kalyan-Rana’s Ayyappanum Koshiyum remake, and Prabhas’s Radhe Shyam will be out in theaters with less than a week’s gap. This might look exciting but there is a whole lot of risk associated with it.
With three biggies to choose from, the family audience and even the general cine-goers will pick the one with the best word of mouth. Or at the very best, they might pick two films. So, the film that has the weakest word of mouth will be a complete washout at the box office. The audience will invariably lap up the film with the best response and sideline the others. This is a serious risk that could greatly affect the box office performance of these films.
Not just that, Venkatesh and Varun Tej’s F3 is also releasing next Sankranthi. The film caters to family audiences and it will naturally have an edge in the long run. As things stand, the makers of Sarkaru Vaari Paata, Radhe Shyam, and Ayyappanum Koshiyum remake are taking a huge risk by releasing their films with less than a week’s gap. Sarkaru Vaari Paata and Radhe Shyam have already locked January 13th and 14th as the release dates and Ayyappanum Koshiyum remake is touted to release on 12th January.
Radhe Shyam had already wrapped up the shoot and there won’t be any change in the release date no matter what. As for Sarkaru Vaari Paata and Ayyapanum Koshiyum, both these projects are mid-way through the shoot. It remains to be seen if all three of these films will actually lock horns at the box office.