Last Updated: February 04, 2023, 19:09 IST
This year both their movies, Walter Veerayya and Veera Simha Reddy, which released on January 13, are going strong at the box office.
Chiranjeevi got the upper hand at the box office with his film, but Veera Simha Reddy gave a good fight too, this Pongal season.
The box office clash of Chiranjeevi and Nandamuri Balakrishna films in the Pongal season is nothing new in the Telugu film industry. This year both their movies, Walter Veerayya and Veera Simha Reddy, which released on January 13, are going strong at the box office.
However, in terms of box office collections, Waltair Veerayya is way ahead of Veera Simha Reddy.
Chiranjeevi got the upper hand at the box office with his film, but Veera Simha Reddy gave a good fight too this time. But this wasn’t the first time they have competed at the box office. They have competed 19 times in total, 11 of the films were Pongal releases.
Some of their previous films to have competed at the box office are:
Chattamtho Poratam vs Atmabalam – 1985 was the first time when Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna films clashed at the box office on a Pongal holiday. Chiranjeevi had the upper hand as his film Chattamtho Poratam beat Balakrishna’s Atmabalam, which turned to be a flop.
Donga Mogudu vs Bhargava Rama – The 1987 Sankranthi season saw Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna films clashing at the box office with one week gap. Chiranjeevi’s Donga Mogudu released on 7 January 1987 and Balakrishna’s Bhargava Rama released on January 14. Both films were directed by the same filmmaker and both of them did fairly good at the box office.
Manchi Donga vs Inspector Pratap – The 1988 Pongal clash saw Chiranjeevi’s Manchi Donga winning with a huge margin against Balakrishna’s Inspector Pratap.
Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu vs Bhale Donga – The January of 1989 was the third Pongal clash between Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna. Both the films did great at the box office, but Balakrishna’s Bhale Donga fell short of Chiranjeevi’s film and the actor lost this round too.
Peddannaya vs Hitler – 1997’s Sankranthi season saw the releases of the two actors again and this time both actors gave blockbuster hits at the box office. Chiranjeevi’s Hitler and Balakrishna’s Peddannaya did not have much of a difference at the box office and both made good money.
Talking about 2023, Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna both delivered hits but Waltair Veerayya turned out to be the game changer as the film was a hit for Chiranjeevi after consecutives failures with his previous films.
