2014 was supposed to be a year of big releases. 1-Nenokkadine, Aagadu, Rabhasa, Lingaa – the year has seen some big releases from big banners. However, the movies that did well were the smaller unnoticed movies which came without much fanfare and picked up steam through word of mouth. It went on to prove that in spite of Tollywood’s liking for the big stars and big releases, there is room for good movies with good stories. We take a look at some runaway hits of the year.
1. Oohalu Gusa Gusalade – Featuring Naga Shouryaand Rashi Khanna, Srinivas Avasarala’s rom-com was stylish, fresh and beautifully shot. It was a throwaway to the older times, when rom-coms were more about scripts and screenplays than about expensive locations and big stars. The movie targeted at adolescents and young crowds, went on to become a family entertainer eventually, bringing acclaim for the lead pair and the smart director.
2. Run Raja Run – Sujeeth, the debut director of the movie was already a big name in the short film circuit. His first movie with Sharwanand, also proved to be the critically acclaimed actor’s first box office success in a really long time. Run Raja Run, followed on the trend of good script and good screenplay playing the most important role in the movie, as opposed to the presence of a super-star. Debutant heroine Seerat Kapoor also received a lot of praise for her acting. The crisp, edgy thriller offered a dream role to Sharwanand, who had an opportunity to present his comic timing as well.
3. Karthikeya – Karthikeya was the surprise hit of the year, giving the pair of Nikhil Siddharth and Swati, two back-to-back blockbusters, thrusting him into the big leagues, after Swamy Ra Ra’s success earlier. Based on a science versus religion concept, the movie went on to rack 50 days at several centers including at some multiplexes, where no movie had ever made a 50-day run, milestones that showed how impressive the performance of the movie was.
4. Loukyam – Clashing with a Mahesh Babu and a Mega camp movie is rarely a good idea. Released between Aagadu and Govindudu Andarivadele, the Gopichand starrer was appreciated for its comedy – especially by Brahmanandam and Pruthvi. The movie that did well at the theaters could have had a far better run at the box office, if it were released a few weeks later, considering how the big releases lost their fizz.
5. Ala Ela – No big stars, no over-the-board promotions didn’t prove to be detrimental to the success of the film, as the Rahul Ravindran – Vennela Kishore starrer comedy thrived on word of mouth to bring in audiences into the hall. In spite of a low key release in few centers, the movie picked up from the second day, thanks to good reviews of the clean comedy that the movie offered. It could also be a new lease of life for AndalaRakshasi hero, Rahul Ravindran, who has couple of releases lined for early next year.
Honorable Mentions –
Two other movies that also did well this year were Balakrishna’s Legend, which surprisingly wasn’t 14 Reels’ chief priority, given the focus on 1: Nenokkadine, and Drushyam, starring Venkatesh, which did well based on a good script (it was a remake of a Malayalam hit) and good acting. Finally Allu Arjun’s Race Gurram bags the top position in 2014 which also the highest collected movie for Stylish star.
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