First, it was ‘Saaho’, which got postponed at the eleventh hour. Then producers of ‘Venky Mama’ dodged on the release date for many days putting distributors under tension. Now, the makers of ‘Ala Vaikunthapurramloo’ and ‘Sarileru Neekevvaru’ have started rethinking about their release dates. As things stand today, none of these makers have officially confirmed their new release dates. They are posters the posters with the tag - ‘Sankranthi 2020 release’.

In the domestic market, it is easily manageable such gimmicks but the overseas market needs a lot of prior planning. To open advance sales and also chart out the theater’s list, the overseas distributors need confirmation at least 15 months before the release date. Our producers and stars want big openings and record numbers from premiere shows but resort to such last-minute gimmicks. 

Even in 2020, Tollywood producers are still indulging in whimsical decisions about release dates. At a time when the USA market is going through a low phase, this unprofessional attitude of the producers is putting a huge burden on the overseas distributors.

Only two films have total clarity about their release plans during this Sankranthi period. They are Rajinikanth’s ‘Darbar’ (Jan 9) and Kalyan Ram’s ‘Entha Manchivaadavuraa’.