Recapping the Balayya Vs Chiru fight

As 'Khaidi No. 150' and 'Gautamiputra Satakarni' hit the screens on Jan 11th and 12th, respectively, here we look at the cases when Yuva Ratna/Nata Simha and Megastar clashed at the BO over their career spanning decades.

The first time the duo locked horns was in the year 1984 when Kodi Ramakrishna's 'Mangamma Gari Manavadu' gave Balakrishna a big hit.  Megastar-starrer 'Inti Guttu', released in a span of days, trailed.

In the same year, P Vasu's 'Kathanayakudu' and Kodandarami Reddy's 'Rusthum', starring Balayya and Chiru, respectively, clashed.

In 1985, two high-sounding titles were at loggerheads.  'Aathma Balam' and 'Chattamtho Poratam' had a 'poratam' to showcase their 'balam'.

'Nippulanti Manishi' and 'Kondaveeti Raja' clashed in a span of a few days way back in 1986.  This was a unique year in that two more clashes happened.  'Apoorva Sahodarulu' and 'Rakshasudu' followed.  The S Gopal Reddy-directed 'Muddula Kirshnayya' had a BO clash with 'Maghadeerudu'.

In 1987, the fight was between 'Bhargava Ramudu' (directed by Kodandarami Reddy) and 'Donga Mogudu' on the one hand, and 'Ramu' and 'Pasivadi Pranam' on the other.

In the following year, 'Inspector Pratap' and Chiru's 'Manchi Donga' reportedly released in two consecutive days, a situation that bears resemblance to the 2017 scenario.  In the same year, 'Ramudu Bheemudu' and 'Yuddha Bhoomi' followed.

'Nari Nari Naduma Murari' and 'Jagadheka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari' hit the screens in less than a fortnight's time, in 1990. Directed by behemoths (Kodandarami Reddy and Raghavendra Rao, respectively), they are among the most memorable movies for the respective stars.

After a gap of many years, in 1997, 'Peddannayya' and 'Hitler' (remarkably, both of these were family entertainers with loads of brotherly sentiment thrown in) hit the screens around the same time.

In the following year, it was the turn of 'Yuvaratna Rana' and 'Bavagaru Bagunnara' to go for BO sawaal.

In 1999, something defining happened at the BO.  Balakrishna's 'Samarasimha Reddy' turned out to be a trend-setter, while 'Sneham Kosam' brought Chiru laurels for playing an experimental role.

In 2000, 'Vamshoddharakudu' and 'Annayya' were released around the same time, with both the big stars walking away with praises for their performance.

In 2001, the Sankranthi fight was between 'Narasimha Naidu' and 'Mrugaraju'.  The budgets were high, so also expectations.  In the same year, 'Bhalevadivi Basu' and 'Sri Manjunatha' hit the screens vying for their share in the BO cake.

In 2004, 'Lakshmi Narasimha' and 'Anji' hit the screens on two consecutive days.

It's after 13 years that a Balayya and a Chiru movie are hitting the marquee on two consecutive days, or for that matter in the same season!