Superstar Akkineni Nagarjuna and his son Naga Chaitanya have always been the heartthrobs of Telugu cinema but with the release of their 2022 blockbuster Bangarraju, the father-son duo have touched new heights of success.
The film, which also stars Krithi Shetty, Ramya Krishnan and Duvvasi Mohan among others, managed to gross Rs 53 crore in the opening weekend while reportedly having a budget of just 45 crores.
Celebrating the success of the film at a meet, Nagarjuna expressed gratitude to the audience who helped make the movie a success. He further even thanked his fans who turned up at the theatres in large numbers despite COVID-19 fears.
Taking the meet as an opportunity, Nagarjuna said that while the COVID-19 induced lockdown has led to the closure of theatres and prompted filmmakers to extend the release dates of their films, people in the South have witnessed back to back film releases. “Everyone was thinking that this isn’t the time to watch movies due to the pandemic and even filmmakers in the North have been affected by it. But, Telugu film lovers are still enthusiastic and want to watch films on the occasion on Makar Sankranti,” he was quoted as saying.
Nagarjuna further said that he believes it was not just the good script that made the film a success but because he had faith in the Telugu cinema viewers who prefer watching movies on Sankranti. “I don’t want to talk about the collection here, the collection is nothing without the love and support of you people,” Nagarjuna added.
Remembering his father Akkineni Nagaeswara Rao, Nagarjuna credited him for all the love that the audience showers upon him. While thanking all the people who worked for the film, Nagarjuna said that Bangarraju is the perfect Telugu movie and that the real Bangarraju is his father. “I am sure that he is somewhere here and watching us,” he said.
Bangarraju, directed by Kalyan Krishna, was released in theatres on January 14. It is a fantasy drama and serves as a sequel to the 2016 blockbuster Soggade Chinni Nayana. The film revolves around the souls of Bangarraju (Nagarjuna) and Satyabhama (Ramya Krishna) who descend on Earth to sort out the life of their grandson.
