(Clockwise) Nani in ‘Dashara’, Samantha in ‘Shakuntalam’, Teja Sajja in ‘Hanu-Mana’, Naga Chaitanya in ‘Custody’, Shruti Haasan and Balakrishna in ‘Veera Simha Reddy’, Chiranjeevi in ’Voltaire Veeraiya’ Me and Prabhas in ‘Salar’
In 2022, Telugu cinema witnessed some memorable larger than life and short films. Some big-budget films with a clichéd story bite the dust. Filmmakers had to start reorienting themselves for post-pandemic audiences, who were ready to consume cinema with new stories, cutting across languages more than ever before. The slate of 2023 looks big and varied with a bunch of films garnering attention across the country – director Gunasekhar’s shakuntalam Spotlight by Samantha Ruth Prabhu, granny-starrerDussehra by debut director Shrikant Odela and director Prashant Neel salar Starring Prabhas from them. There are a number of small, promising films that may also deliver pleasant surprises.
solstice entertainer
in 2017 when Chiranjeevi returns to the screen – After a gap of 10 years – Together Khaidi Number 150 For Sankranti, the Balakrishna-starrer historical tale was also in the fray Gautamiputra Satakarni directed by Krish Jagarlamudi , For Telugu film buffs, it felt like a throwback to the 1990s and early 2000s when these stars, who were still small then, ruled.
There is a slight change for Sankranti 2023. Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna continue to shoot with their respective films – voltair veeraiah (January 13) , Directed by KS Ravindra aka Bobby and Veera Simha Reddy (January 12) Directed by Gopichand Malineni. voltair veeraiah There is also Ravi Teja whose recent film is blast marked his return to box office form.
warsudu (January 14), Telugu dub of Vijay’s Tamil film Varisu directed by Vamsi Paidipally, and thegimpu (January 11), the Telugu version of the Ajith-starrer thunivu Directed by H Vinoth, it will also jostle for box office space during Sankranti.
Santosh Soban and Priya Bhavani Shankar in ‘Kalyanam Kamaniyam’
romance drama Kalyanam Kamaniyam (January 14) Backed by UV Creations, helmed by debutant director Anil Kumar Alla starring Santosh Soban and Priya Bhavani Shankar, a short film that will hope to attract family audiences with its storyline involving a newly married couple.
Keeping an eye on the countrywide market
The nationwide releases expected in 2023 include action entertainers ranging from mythology to action starring actors from different languages.
will be the first among action entertainers telugu-tamil film Michael(February 3) Headlined by Sudip Kishan and co-starring Vijay Sethupathi, directed by Ranjith Jayakody. The action entertainer, which will release in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, will mark Sudeep’s return to the screen after almost two years. Divyansh Kaushik plays the female lead and Varalakshmi Sarathkumar and Anasuya Bharadwaj in pivotal roles; Director Gautham Menon has been cast as the antagonist.
Divyansh Kaushik and Sandeep Kishan in ‘Michael’
Retelling of the mythological story of Shakuntala and Dushyanta by director Gunasekhar, shakuntalamHelmed by Ruth Prabhu and Dev Mohan, Samantha will hit the theaters on February 17 in both 2D and 3D formats. The film is touted as ‘Mythology for Millennials’ and will feature veteran actor Mohan Babu as Durvasa Maharishi and actor Allu Arjun’s daughter Allu Arha as the young prince Bharath.
director and actor Vishwak Sen threat of ten Dhanush’s Tamil-Telugu bilingual to release in multiple languages on February 17 Sir Directed by Venky Atluri.
Vishwak Sen in ‘Dus Ka Dhamkki’
will arrive at the end of march Dussehra, with the story surrounding the Singareni coal mines of Telangana. Directed by debutant Srikanth Odela, Dussehra Nani will be seen in a tough avatar with disheveled hair and a coal sooty look, a departure from his common man persona till now. This working-class rebel tale stars Keerthy Suresh in the lead and Malayalam actor Roshan Mathew in a pivotal role. With music by Santhosh Narayanan, Dussehra Will be released on March 30 in all four languages of South India and in Hindi.
Director Prashant Verma HanumanTouted as a superhero film inspired by the story of Lord Hanuman, with a worldwide release on 12th May is casting a huge net. The Teja Sajja-starrer is high on visual effects and stars Varalakshmi Sarathkumar and Amrutha Iyer. Hanuman Set in a fictional place named Anjanadri and the story will trace how the protagonist gets the power of Hanuman and fights for Anjanadri. The ambitious film will release in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Japanese, apart from several Indian languages.
Hanu – of man Director Venkat Prabhu likely to release with Tamil-Telugu action film custody (May 12) starring Naga Chaitanya and Kriti Shetty, with music by father-son duo Ilaiyaraaja and Yuvan Shankar Raja.
Krish Jagarlamudi’s period drama Hari Har Veera Mallu Ravi Teja-starrer, starring Pawan Kalyan Ravansur Directed by Sudhir Verma and Ravi Teja Tiger Nageswara Rao Akhil Akkineni, directed by Vamsi agent Directed by Surender Reddy, starring Chiranjeevi Bhola Shankar The film directed by Meher Ramesh is also expected this year.
By the end of this year all eyes will be on director Prashant Neel salar Starring Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Shruti Haasan. Film produced by Humble Films, which operated kgf The series marks Neil’s debut Telugu film and Prabhas is said to play a violent character in it.
In another star-studded Telugu language release, actor Kalyan Ram who re-established himself with the 2022 fantasy entertainer Bimbisara, Directed by debutant Mallidi Vashishth, will look to consolidate his new innings with amigos (10 February), in which he reportedly plays three roles. The film is directed by Rajendra Reddy.
Suhas in ‘Writer Padmanabham’
Release dates of director Sukumar and Allu Arjun Pushpa – RulesMahesh Babu and director Trivikram Srinivas’ new project, Samantha-Vijay Deverakonda pleasure directed by Shiva Nirvana, and Dj Tillu The sequel is yet to be announced by Sidhu Jonnalagadda. Adivi Sesh’s slick action thriller two films expected to roll soon g 2 Helmed by first-timer Vinay Kumar Sirigini, which will be a sequel goodachariand an untitled family drama directed by debutant Shaurya starring Nani and Mrunal Thakur.
beyond the stars
Welcome surprises often come from non-star-studded films. Watch out for director Nandini Reddy’s family drama Anni Manchi Sakunamule Starring Santosh Soban and Malavika Nair, Author Padma Bhushan A musical film by director Sai Rajesh, starring Suhas and directed by Shanmukha Prashant infant Starring Anand Deverakonda, Viraj Ashwin and Vaishnavi Chaitanya, Allari Naresh furious By director Vijay Kanakamedla and director Srikanth Nagoti honey month Starring Naveen Chandra and Swathi Reddy.