2024: Pushpa 2, Kalki take Tollywood to greater heights

With two films scripting a new history by making eye-popping collections at the box office worldwide, the year 2024 is special for the Telugu cinema industry, as this rare feat makes Tollywood shine brightly in the global glamour world. Over Rs 1,000 crore in just six days is unprecedented in Indian cinema, and the Allu Arjun-starrer ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ has achieved it, surprising everyone, and becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian movies in 2024.

Ruling the roost at the box office, particularly in the north, this pan-India crazy movie has grossed a whopping Rs 1550 crore after its 19-day run. Released in the last month of the year, the multilingual action drama has shattered earlier records and become the third highest grosser after ‘Dangal’ and ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’.

Making the Telugu cinema proud worldwide, Kalki 2898 AD has made its mark making whopping collections all over. Released in June, this is the other movie which joined the Rs. 1,000-crore club in the year.

Starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone and others, the big-ticket epic sci-fi film grossed about Rs. 1,200 crore in its full run.

Despite a mixed talk, Devara: Part 1 of Junior NTR, which hit the screens in September, made decent collections at the box office. The action drama film grossed over Rs. 500 crore in its total run.

Small film makes it big

Springing a surprise, Hanu-Man, a small-budget movie directed by Prashant Varma with Teja in the lead role, made it big grossing over Rs 350 crore in the year. Released for Pongal along with Gunturu Karam (Mahesh Babu) and Saindhav of Venkatesh, it topped the race getting the super hit talk. The visual wonder impressed all sections and emerged as the fourth highest-grossing Telugu film in the year.

While the four films got the blockbuster tag, some other movies which include Naa Samiranga, Ambajipeta Marriage Band, Premalu, Tillu Square, Saripoda Sanivaram, Mathu Vadalara, Lucky Bhaskar, Ka, and Amaran are declared hits in the year. Released for Pongal, Mahesh Babu-starrer Gunturu Karam got an average talk, while Saindhav of Venkatesh became a disaster.

Movies like Family Star of Vijaya Devarakonda, Ravi Teja-starrer Mr Bachchan and Ismart Sankar brought tears to distributors as audiences rejected them. For the Telugu film industry, the year 2024 ends on a bright note thanks to the highest-grossing Indian movies like Kalki and Pushpa 2, blazing a trail to more visual extravaganzas with high technical values.

Stay tuned to Yo! Vizag website and Instagram for more city and news updates.

This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu