By the end of its box-office run, Ravi Teja's Irumudi is estimated to register a higher number of admissions than even SS Rajamouli's RRR in Nizam territory, a trade report says. Owing to the difference in ticket pricing, its collections won't surpass that of the Jr NTR-Ram Charan movie, though.
At this point, nobody knows what works just about okay and what works spectacularly at the Telugu box office. It's one thing for a well-written and well-performed movie to mint great numbers. It's entirely another for it to become an event film without featuring larger-than-life sets and mind-boggling action blocks.
The entire industry is sitting up and trying to get a grip on it. While Irumudi doesn't have the novelty expected of a trend-setter, what lessons can filmmakers draw from its success? Probably, there are none. Probably, there are. Go for at least two chartbusters, even if it means delaying its release by six months. Don't overstuff your movie with twists for the sake of it. Divinity has to be invoked in such a way that it resonates with the lived experiences of audiences or of those they know. And, the pricing strategy counts too.
Director Shiva Nirvana's narration is nothing out of the world. Irumudi most certainly imbues its body and spirit with the kind of grave highs many Tamil movies have achieved in the past two decades. Vikram's Veera Dheera Sooran was a nail-biting thriller with tension written all over it. Yet, it didn't make the kind of numbers (in Tamil) that Irumudi is making.
