The COVID season severely hit Tollywood, forcing many producers to release their films on OTT. After that, Telugu cinema recovered by delivering many hits, which made exhibitors, distributors, and producers breathe a sigh of relief. But this summer season, the industry is going through another lull period and that is due to content shortage.

Devara and Kalki 2898 AD, headlined by NTR and Prabhas, respectively, should have been released during this Summer season, but due to various reasons, these biggies couldn’t make it to their initial release dates. This, in one way, is a big blow to the industry, but the silver lining is that the postponement of these big-ticket entertainers gave ample opportunity for medium and small-budget films.

Only Tillu Square utilized this advantage, but other films failed to capitalize on the golden chance. Surprisingly, many medium-budget films are postponing, and the whole summer season is getting wasted due to a lack of proper planning. Though some opine this is due to the IPL factor and elections, there are audiences who prefer cinema over other forms of entertainment.

Multiplexes in Hyderabad are somehow surviving with the holdover titles and other language content, but that is not the case with single screens in tier 2 cities. With a shortage of content, some single screens are canceling shows, while others are operating with poor occupancies. The industry is in dire need of a big blockbuster that can keep the cash registers ringing.

The latter half of 2024 looks bright, with many biggies lined up for release, but this summer season has been nothing short of a massive disappointment both for movie lovers and exhibitors.