The month of July saw a multitude of releases in Telugu, both straight and dubbed. Here we bring you a review of their performances and what they meant to the audience.

July 5:

'Oh Baby': Samantha Akkineni opened the month with a hit. The family comedy-fantasy, directed by Nandini Reddy, also featured Rajendra Prasad, Rao Ramesh and others. It will be remade in other languages, especially Hindi.

'Burra Katha': Aadi Saikumar scored a damp squib with this 'burra leni katha'. Debutant director Diamond Ratnababu just didn't know how to deal with the protagonist with a disorder. Stupid parodies also failed to click. It sank without a trace.

There were other releases such as 'KS 100' and 'Kakatheeyudu', which didn't grab attention.

July 12:

'Ninu Veedani Needanu Nene': Sundeep Kishan scored his first hit after two years. The emotional thriller, directed by Caarthick Raju, starred Anya Singh as the heroine. The unconventional climax, the technical output and the story worked best.

Not only its theatrical performance, it also did well in terms of Hindi remake rights and digital rights.

'Dorasaani': The debut film of Anand Deverakonda and Shivathmika Rajasekhar bombed. Directed by a debutant, the film's many elements reminded the audience of the Marathi blockbuster 'Sairat'.

Meghamsh Srihari's 'Rajdhoot' and 'Marketlo Prajaswamyam' came and disappeared without anybody's knowledge.

July 18:

'iSmart Shankar': This was not expected to bring Puri Jagannadh back in the reckoning. But it did. The film is one of the biggest medium-range hits ever. Ram Pothineni's mass avatar was embraced with enthusiasm by the audience. Nabha Natesh and Nidhhi Agerwal couldn't have asked for more, so also Mani Sharma.

The mass sci-fi may collect Rs 35 Cr (share) in its lifetime.

July 19:

'Mr. KK': Vikram scored another flop in Telugu. This dubbed film had no sense of purpose, so to speak. We got confused whose story it wanted to tell - Vikram's character's or that doctor who was forced to kidnap him. Directed by Rajesh Selva, this one was high on style and low on substance.

July 20:

'Aame': The film was expected to do well in multiplexes. But this Amala Paul-starrer didn't get noticed. Despite its strong content, nobody took it quite seriously, betraying the limitations of certain genres. Probably, the film was not promoted quite well.

July 26:

'Dear Comrade': Vijay Deverakonda had another 'NOTA'. The romantic drama tanked right on the first Monday. The film has mellowed down the market of VD. The next time his producers seek high prices, the distributors know what to tell them.

'Nenu Lenu' and 'Bailampudi' went unnoticed.