What next for Sai Dharam Tej?

With the exception of 'Rey', Sai Dharam Tej had a great going till the summer of 2016.  'Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham', 'Subrahmanyam For Sale' and 'Supreme' gave him a startling momentum.  He played characters with welcome shades.  Harish Shankar cast him in a semi-arrogant role (in 'SFS'), while Anil Ravipudi made him a typical Telugu cinema hero who ensures a boy's mission is accomplished successfully (in 'Supreme').

Then started 'thikka' entertainment with 'Thikka'.  Forget a new director, someone like Gopichand Malineni made the Mega hero pay the price for doing 'Winner'.  Doing an extended special role in 'Nakshatram' didn't help, as a casual Krishna Vamsi didn't know how to bring out the "Supreme Hero" in the Mega hero.  

BVS Ravi's joke of an action-thriller 'Jawaan' was another major flop.  VV Vinayak then contributed immensely to bring down Tej's status further.  'Intelligent', released this February, was washed away by the force of his cousin Varun Tej's 'Tholi Prema'.  Even without this film, 'Intelligent' would have been a major dud anyways.

One more star director of the 2000s has failed Tej.  Karunakaran's 'Tej I Love You' is an inferior quality rom-com in which the Mega hero has under-performed and his heroine Anupama Parameswaran has overdone.  

All hopes are now on Tej's next with Kishore Tirumala, whose record is a mixed bag.  One hopes that Tej will marshal his dancing skills and the best in him (comic timing or whatever) this time.