Akkineni Nagarjuna, speaking at Lenin's Monday event, lamented that Tollywood hasn't been able to stick to schedules. He contrasted this with the situation that used to prevail about 2-3 decades back. "I remember very well that my films like Ninne Pelladatha and Annamayya were ready one month before their scheduled release. These days, that's not happening. Lenin was scheduled for a June 26 release. We had to postpone it by two weeks because the post-production wasn't ready," Nag said, adding that he himself is not aware why technicians, directors, and composers aren't on-time. He also pointed at The Odyssey, whose release date was made official by Christopher Nolan a good one year ahead.
Movie buffs are showing two Indian examples in recent times. Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan movies are a case in point. While the project itself was decades in the making due to script developments and production delays, the principal photography for both PS-1 and PS-2 was completed in roughly 150 days. For a two-part historical epic featuring a massive star cast, intricate period costumes, and large-scale battle sequences, finishing shooting in around 150 operational days is considered exceptionally swift.
Bollywood's Dhurandhar is another prime example. Principal photography for both parts combined took about 15 months, running from July 2024 to October 2025.
Contrast this with the delays in Tollywood: from the Pushpa movies to The Paradise, from Kalki 2898 AD to Sambarala Yeti Gattu, from Guntur Kaaram to Swayambhu, from Fauzi to many others. Every single film kept getting delayed.
