In the last few years, whenever we had tried to stake stock of the year or the half-year passed by, the mood was despondent and the feeling was wretched.

But this year things have started on a positive note. There have been more highs than lows in the last six months that we just left behind. In that, there have been more hits than we usually have.

The biggest of them is of course Pokiri, which is going great guns still. Industry pundits reckon that the movie may beat many existing records in Tollywood.

The Mahesh Babu and Ileana starrer also catapulted the duo to the top of the totem pole.

After Pokiri, Vikramarkudu, starring Ravi Teja in a double role, and directed by the smart S S Rajamouli, looks on the way to becoming a major hit.

Previously we also had Venkatesh’s Lakshmi, Nagarjuna’s Sri Ramadasu to being big grosser. Sri Ramadasu, in fact, has become something of a cult movie.

Emerging as one of the bankable mass heroes was also Gopichand, whose Ranam ran out to be another big grosser.

Then there is Devadasu, the YVS Chowdary musical, is now all set to enjoy its 175 days. Style, with all the right packaging, was also a hit.

But these are naturally masala movies. There were some class and small budget films that also had a good run.

Godavari, the typical Sekar Kammula romantic flick with soft music and Sumanth and Kamalini in the leads, was big hit especially in the urban centers.

There was Allari Naresh’s Kita Kitalu that has become a comedy hit of 2006. Films like 10th Class also had a good run. The major failures were the likes of Veerabhadra, Pournami and Bangaram.

Young heroes, who arrived in droves last year, failed to consolidate. Director Teja had yet another failure while Srikanth had three releases almost simultaneously.

Among the heroines, Ileana and Anushka have emerged as pair. But the likes of Trisha and Nayantra are still around to give tough competition.

The biggest musical album was MM Keeravani’s Sri Ramadasu. Radha Krishnan’s Godavari was also not far behind.

Marriage to stars like Laya, and impending ones to Kalyan Ram, also made news.