“Sankranti Releases Were Easier Earlier” – M.S. Raju Reveals Industry Shift

Veteran Telugu filmmaker and producer M.S. Raju has shared his thoughts on the evolving competition around Sankranti film releases in the Telugu film industry. Speaking in a recent interview, he said that while the festival has always been a prestigious release season, the level of competition and theatre challenges has significantly increased over the years.

He also recalled the release strategy of his film Varsham, which was released during Sankranti alongside big films like Chiranjeevi’s Anji and Balakrishna’s Lakshmi Narasimha. Despite the presence of major stars, he chose the risky decision based on the strong content and the popularity of its songs even before release. He admitted that such a move was bold, but the response justified it. M.S. Raju further explained that earlier theatre distribution was more flexible, whereas today single-film dominance in theatres has made festival releases far more challenging.