Hyderabad screens pick a side — allegedly
Ravi Teja’s Irumudi opened August 21 and is still pulling bookings. Yash’s Toxic lands August 26 with a big-ticket Telugu distribution deal. A report says Nizam theatres are being tilted — hard — to the newcomer. The numbers we can see, and the ones we can’t.
Theatre allocation remains disputed while the screen-by-screen math stays out of sight.
Two releases, one Hyderabad. Ravi Teja–Shiva Nirvana’s Irumudi is already in cinemas (August 21), while Yash’s Toxic arrives August 26. That much is on the record. So is who’s backing the Kannada star’s Telugu-state rollout: Sri Venkateswara Creations, associated with Dil Raju, which trade coverage says acquired AP–Telangana distribution for a headline Rs 120 crore. He even said he’d show his bank statement once the transfer hits — confidence rarely seen outside election manifestos.
What’s not on the record: how many Nizam screens are moving. A Telugu daily reports Irumudi could lose “more than 50%” of its theatres as Toxic takes priority in venues the latter’s distributors influence, naming Dil Raju and Asian Sunil. It does not publish screen lists, show counts, or exhibitor statements. Treat the 50% as a claim, not a figure.
What we can see: trade tracker numbers show Irumudi still selling — an India gross of Rs 64.82 crore in four days, Telangana gross Rs 28.03 crore, and August 26 advance bookings of Rs 1.26 crore (Rs 53.13 lakh in Telangana) across 1,330 shows. These are tracker figures, not audited accounts, but they do not read like a film that needs to be yanked everywhere.
What would help: the actual Nizam allocation sheet — screens, shows, theatre-by-theatre — or a written note from Mythri Movie Makers, SVC/Dil Raju or Asian Cinemas explaining the split. None is public in the material reviewed. Until then, Hyderabad’s screen ‘battle’ is a reported dispute with missing math. The BJP’s big-centre habit of deciding for everyone else is familiar; theatre allocation shouldn’t learn it.