make way for the prince of tollywood

make way for the prince of tollywood

Going by the box office collections of the initial one week, Mahesh Babu starrer Athidi was said to have broken all the records in Tollywood.

The film which is being screened at 712 packed cinemas across the State had an opening day collection of Rs 6,14,95,876.

And critics who said that this was just an opening day craze were silenced when the film grossed a massive Rs 16,72,58,868 on its fourth day.

Trade gurus then went on to claim that any film would usually do well around the Dasara vacations, and that Athidi was no exception.

The film’s real test they said, would be if it continued to do well even after the holiday season.

Luck seems to favour the film and it’s Mahesh who is having the last laugh. two weeks later, the figure has reached an astronomical Rs 32 crores and they are still counting.

This, they say is much lesser than what was expected, since the unexpected rains played spoilsport.

Mahesh Babu however, is content. "I am thrilled at the response this film is getting. Believe me, I never knew that I had such a great fan-following. Honestly, it feels good.

After the huge success of Pokiri, my friends and fans used to call me ‘Pokiri’. And now they call me ‘Athidi’. I’m on top of the world," he said.

According to some trade pundits, Athidi has rasied Mahesh Babu to an iconic status of a true superstar, a la Rajinikanth or Chiranjeevi, whose films run only on their name.

Noted Tollywood director Trivikram Srinivas says, "Tollywood has developed a certain set of rules since NTR’s time. Everything is very loud here.

Loud fights, loud dialogues, loud romances. But Mahesh Babu is completely different. He followed his own set of rules, right from day one.

He never compromised. He’s ready to experiment and has tons of patience. Even the film Athidi is not being watched for anything else but Mahesh Babu.

Not many people in Indian cinema could achieve this kind of a craze in such little time."