Telugu cinema had a massive December last year, with 'Akhanda' and 'Pushpa: The Rise' becoming back-to-back hits. They both are superstar movies that targeted the mass audience.

But the first week of 2022 has turned out to be a damp squib for Telugu cinema. 'Induvadana', starring Varun Sandesh and Farnaz Shetty, hit the screens on the first day of the year. It was a comprehensive disaster with silly content spoiling the show. The presence of comedians like Dhanraj, Ali, Thagubothu Ramesh and Raghu Babu was its minus, not a plus, since the comedy track was unfunny.

On January 7, two films hit the screens: 'Atithi Devobhava' and Rana Daggutbati-starrer '1945'. And both have received negative reviews. The former stars Aadi Saikumar and Nuveksha in the lead. A romantic thriller gone wrong, it is directed by Polimera Nageshwar. The latter is a long-delayed period drama that Rana didn't promote. Since the makers didn't go for publicity in a marked way, not many even knew about it. The Day 1 collections were too low.

The pre-Sankranthi business in Tollywood has always been negligible, with minor exceptions offered by 'Nenu Sailaja' (1 January 2016) and 'Raghuvaram B.Tech' (released on 31 December 2014).