Jai Lava Kusa, SPYder and Mahanubhavudu released amidst high expectations during this Dussehra season. In Telugu states, both Jai Lava Kusa and Mahanubhavudu managed a fairly decent run, but SPYder is heading towards becoming a huge disaster. In overseas, all three films will end up as loss ventures.

Jai Lava Kusa, which released on September 21st, was traded for 8 Crores( approx) in overseas. The film managed to garner above average talk and registered strong collections in its first weekend. However, the film slowed down at the box office after the first weekend and it is likely to fall short of the break even mark. Trade analysts predict a 10-15 percent loss to its buyers.

Mahesh Babu’s SPYder did a strong pre release business in overseas. The film embarked on a record breaking start with $ 1 M premiers. But, the collections plummeted by almost 90 percent from the second day. The poor word of mouth had impacted the collections and the film is heading towards a huge loss venture for its buyers with nearly 60 percent losses.

Mahanubhavudu, the dark horse of the Dussehra season, opened well in overseas, but couldn’t sustain well enough to touch the break even mark. The film surpassed the half million mark,but it will end up with 10-15 percent losses for its buyers.

Going by the way all three films performed in overseas, is clear that there is no Dussehra winner at the box office there. The buyers of all three films will suffer losses.

Dussehra releases Jai Lava Kusa, SPYder and Mahanubhavudu, which opened on a strong note at the US box office, failed to capitalise on the just concluded weekend. While Mahanubhavudu managed to garner decent figures in its first weekend, SPYder has thoroughly disappointed the trade circles with its appalling collections after a sensational start with $ 1 M premiers. NTR’s Jai Lava Kusa fizzled out in its second weekend.

Mahanubhavudu, which took a decent start with $ 85K from its Thursday premiers, managed to collect $ 113K and $ 200 K on Friday and Saturday. The family entertainer concluded the first weekend with $92K on Sunday taking the overall total to half a million dollar mark. The break even mark for Mahanubhavudu is close to $ 1M.

Mahesh Babu’s SPYder is staring at a huge loss as the collections drastically plunged after a solid start. The weekend collections are very disappointing as the film is struggling to touch the $ 1.5 Million mark. After opening its box office account with $ 1 M from premiers, SPYder failed to capitalise in the first weekend. The film collected $95K and $ 120K on Friday and Saturday respectively. On Sunday, the film collected close to $55 K and is at a touching distance from$ 1.5 M. The break even mark is close to $4.5 M.

The decent run of NTR’s Jai Lava Kusa is coming to an end. After performing on par with the trade expectations in the first weekend, Jai Lava Kusa fizzled out in the second weekend. However, the film surpassed the $ 1.5 Million mark making NTR the only south Indian hero to have a hat trick of films in the prestigious $1.5M club. The break even mark is in between $1.7 M and $1.8 M.

Sunday 8:15PM CST#Mahanubhavudu $72K [ Nearing 0.5M by EOD]#SPYder $38K#JaiLavaKusa $12K

— Telugu360 (@Telugu360) October 2, 2017

Sat US BO#Mahanubhavudu – $189k. Tot 403k (BE – 1 M)#SPYder $118k. Tot – $1401k (BE – $4.5M)#JaiLavaKusa– $25k Tot $1508k. (BE-$1.7M

— Telugu360 (@Telugu360) October 1, 2017

Tollywood’s second biggest movie season after Sankranti is almost upon us. And a lot of money is riding on them. “Jai Lava Kusa”, “Spyder” and “Mahanubhavudu”. All the three trailers look so different from each other and promise a feast ahead full of action, comedy and plenty of “Non-Arjun Reddy”kind of romance (which families can watch together without cringing).

“Mahanubhavudu” starring Sharwanand is once again the proverbial dark horse. The last time Sharwanand entered the den of box-office sweepstakes, he walked away with honors with “Express Raja”. The concept of Obsessive Cleanliness Disorder must be bursting at the seams with explosive laughter. But I wonder why Sharwanand doesn’t always pick the most glamorous looking heroines to up his market cap.

“Jai Lava Kusa” looks to be a sure-shot winner with plenty of action, formula mix of triple-action stunts with three shades of characterization. People are touting this to be another DVSK for today’s generation. I think NTR has already proved his versatility by sharing screen with his own other self in “Adhurs” which is still the best “Hello Brother” kind of film for the new millennium. Ram Charan is the only other new hero who tried dual roles with success. But NTR is different, he can pack a punch and bring out visceral magnetism from any role if he goes after that. But history proves that barring “Daana Veera Soora Karna”, triple role films have always bombed at the box office. Examples, “Mugguru Monagallu” (Chiranjeevi) and “Michael Madana Kama Raju” (though it got accolades for Kamal Hassan). Proves that two is a crowd-puller but three is really a crowd on screen. If JLK becomes a hit, NTR’s career which is already cruising with back-to-back hits will take off.

“Spyder” trailer has been a mixed bag for those who remember Mahesh films. His trailers never did justice to his films and most times, his films often belied the promise of the trailers. This Murgadoss film trailer looks more like a Shankar film full of VFX and Anti-hero particles blocking the hero. I also wonder why Superstar has reverted to using the suffix BABU. I don’t know whether Mahesh Babu is numerologically good or just an affectionate way to address a handsome youth icon. Music by Harris Jayaraj looks like any of Murgadoss films but the most enigmatic draw of the trailer is the ferociousness of SJ Suryah. And the heroine Rakul Preet Singh. The makeover of heroines in Murgadoss films is always a cut above the rest of their filmographies. Mahesh Babu will face the litmus test of his life with this iconic clash with NTR Jr.

Historically, Superstar Krishna and Sr.NTR regularly clashed at the box-office on signature festival days. On one occasion, the late NT Rama Rao’s “DVS Karna” directly clashed with Superstar Krishna’s “Kurukshetram”. NTR’s triple role versus the combined might of Krishna, Sobhanbabu and Krishnam Raju. DVS Karna stole the box office thunder and the biggest joke was on “Kurukshetram” (“Everybody is worried that Shobhan Babu’s Kireetam (crown) will fall any time”!).

But history need not repeat itself. Or will it? Let’s wait and watch the fun.

Sridhar Sattiraju