In December 2020, over two months after the Centre had given its nod for movie theatres to reopen, theatres in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were still relying heavily on Hollywood productions like Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to revive from the losses the industry had suffered due to the extended COVID-19 lockdown. A surprise Christmas Day release, Solo Brathuke So Better, a romantic comedy starring Sai Dharam Tej, nephew of film actor-politician Chiranjeevi, proved to be a glimmer of hope. 

Hyderabad-based Balgovind Raj Tadla, partner at two single screen cinemas, Sudarshan and Devi, says the crowd’s reaction almost felt like a “revenge-response to COVID-19”. “The movie garnered a lot of media attention,” he recalls. It also set the stage for three big January 2021 releases, Red, Krack and the Telugu-dubbed Tamil film Master that had superstar Vijay in the lead. All three did phenomenally well with Krack leading the race. But it was Uppena, another romantic drama, which stole the show, collecting over R150 crore when it released in theatres in Telugu-speaking regions in February, followed closely by Jathi Ratnalu.