Vijay's Bairaava, Chiranjeevi’s Khaidi No.150: The biggest Pongal, Sankranthi releases

The year starts in South India with two major festivals – Pongal, Tamil Nadu’s biggest, and Sankranthi in Andhra and Telengana.  Kollywood and Tollywood is gearing up for the festive season, which is 10 days away. At the box-office we will witness a clash between Tamil star Vijay’s Bairaava and Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi’s comeback film Khaidi No.150 in the international market.

Traditionally Pongal is a time when box-office booms for Tamil films, due to the series of holidays; the festival is normally associated with big hero releases. This Pongal’s biggest release is Vijay’s Bairaava on January 12, which is going to dominate the screens. The film directed by Bharathan has Vijay and Keerthi Suresh in the lead with Jagapathy Babu, Daniel Balaji, Satish and others in the supporting cast.

Most of the screens in Tamil Nadu will be playing the Vijay entertainer. The well-cut action trailer of the film has generated more than 4 million views in record time ensuring that the film will take a great opening. The other films slated for Pongal are Vijay Sethupathi’s long in the making Puriyatha Puthir, GV Prakash’s Bruce Lee and Parthipen’s Koditta Idangalai Nirappuga.

Meanwhile, the Sankranthi Telugu releases are Chiranjeevi’s Khaidi No.150, Balakrishna’s Gauthamiputra Satakarni  and Sarwanand’s  romcom Shatamanam Bhavati.

Among the lot Chiranjeevi’s Khaidi No.150 has a huge buzz, as the actor is making a comeback after 8 years, during which he dabbled in politics. The big question is will the megastar be able to retain his old magic at the box-office?

Khaidi No.150, directed by VV Vinayak, is a remake of Tamil actor Vijay’s Kaththi directed by AR Murgadoss. It is an out and out commercial entertainer with a nice message. The film has Chiranjeevi, Shriya Saran, Kajal Aggarwal in key roles with music by Devi Sri Prasad. The film is scheduled for a January 14 release.

Balakrishna’s 100th film  Gauthamiputra Satakarni  is a historical actioner directed by Krish. It has Shriya Saran, Kabir Bedi and Hema Malini playing Balakrishna’s mother with music by Chirantan Bhatt. Neeta Lulla is the costume designer for this period drama.

Meanwhile the stand- off, followed by the strike in the Malayalam film industry between producers and exhibitors, may be called off shortly with government intervention.

Then the films due earlier for Christmas which were postponed due to strike including Mohanlal’s Munthiri Vallikkal Thaliurkkumbol and Dulquer Salmaan’s  Jomonte  Suvisheshangal will also hit the screens for the January 13 weekend.

The Pongal and Sankranthi weekend sure promises to be exciting at the southern box-office.