This was some really strange year in which the Big Four (Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna and Venkatesh) of the previous generation had releases.  But three of the otherwise busy superstars didn't have any. Pawan Kalyan got busy with politics.  NTR and Allu Arjun have been absent from the scene, busy as they got with the making of 'RRR' and 'Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo'. 

In this special feature, IndiaGlitz analyzes how the big stars fared this year at the box-office.  

Chiranjeevi:

Megastar gave his best in the role of a freedom fighter in 'Sye Raa'.  Purely from performance standpoint, he had a sparkling year.  His fans and the general audience connected emotionally with Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy precisely because of his acting.  The film, directed by Surender Reddy, didn't have great scenes or dialogue.  Yet, it was made special by the legendary actor.  

In terms of box-office numbers, 'Sye Raa' did awesome business in the Telugu States.  It was a flop in the US, and the Hindi version was a disaster.  The Tamil version, too, went unnoticed.  

Mahesh Babu:

'Maharshi' was a safe project that presented simple-minded sermonizing as some sort of revolutionary stuff.  Despite its formulaic content, Mahesh Babu pulled the audience to theatres in large numbers.  This being a May release, the numbers were expectedly higher than they would otherwise have been.  The film didn't have much in its favour before its release.  Devi Sri Prasad's songs didn't receive much popularity.  The Trailer was just average stuff.  But the 'Bharat Ane Nenu' actor made all the difference.

Prabhas:

It was a bittersweet year for the actor.  'Saaho' brought him a smile because of its unexpectedly good performance in Hindi.  The film brought him bad news in Telugu.  In the overseas markets, 'Saaho' sank rather badly. Prabhas, this year, didn't get praises for his acting.  His judgement was panned by everyone.  But he was swooned over for making the Hindi audience come to the theatre just to watch him.  That's a huge achievement.  

Venkatesh:

Venkatesh had a mixed year, one must say.  If 'F2' was a mind-blowing hit (posting Rs 80 Cr in terms of share), 'Venky Mama' has turned out to be an average film at the box-office.  One must give it to Venky for bringing the best to the table.  His comic timing was spot-on in 'F2'.  And in 'Venky Mama', his knack of sentimentality came to the fore.  

Balakrishna:

The Nandamuri actor had one of the worst years of his career.  Three films released.  All three of them were legendary disasters.  'NTR: Kathanayakudu', 'NTR: Mahanayakudu' and 'NTR: Ruler' (You get the joke, right?) were rejected by the audience.  No, actually the second two films were NOT rejected.  Not many even knew about their existence.  So, where does the question of rejecting arise? One thing is for sure.  "Katha gidha gurinchi emi undadu".  Balayya himself these iconic words it in an interview, proud that 'Ruler' was wrapped up in three damning months.  

Akkineni Nagarjuna:

The bad news is that Nag had a disaster with 'Manmadhudu 2'.  The good news is that it was the only disaster from him this year.  Let's not even talk about the content of the film.  Suffice it to say that Nag's judgement has failed him too often in the last few years.