Sankranti season is one of the most awaited festivals for Telugu moviegoers every year because a spate of big ticket films entertain them. Besides this, there will be a huge competition among heroes who viewed prove their box office potential irrespective of the crowded releases. Every year, a couple of top league actors and a handful of second tier heroes clash at the Tollywood’s biggest showdown during the two week festival season.
Like every year, 2025 is also poised to host a bunch of biggies. Of late, some of these films backed out and the remaining films are yet to announce the release dates. So, there is a lot of confusion in trade circles over the release dates. Let’s see who are the contenders for the much awaited festival clash.
Ram Charan’s Game Changer is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated film this Sankranti. As it was postponed from December to January, the Shankar Shanmugam directional will hold the aces this time because there is no other biggie that could challenge this pan-India action spectacle. The shooting formalities are nearing completion and Game Changer is unlikely to miss the date as Megastar Chiranjeevi’s ambitious visual extravaganza ‘Vishwambhara’ has already been pushed to Summer to make way for this film.
Nandamuri Balakrishna’s is often referred as Sankranti hero because he frequently tests his box office luck during the biggest Telugu festival. Several times in the past, Balayya emerged as the Sankranti winner by delivering big hits. His upcoming film NBK109 is scheduled for release on January 11th. As the shooting is almost done and dusted, the production house will no way miss out the festival advantage.
Another seasoned actor Victory Venkatesh is also in the fray again after disappointing in 2024 Season clash with Saindhav which left no trace at the box office. He is now coming up with a full length entertainer titled Sankranti ki Vastunnam. Directed by Anil Ravipudi, the film’s shoot will be wrapped up by November with a target to release during the festival week. However, there is little chance for this film to release in January because its producer Dil Raju also pitched his another biggie Game Changer during the same week. So, there is no clarity yet on the release date.
Quite unexpectedly, Naga Chaitanya’s Thandel also joined the race and surprised the trade circles. Thandel has been carrying impressive inside reports. So, if Thandel arrives, it will be a big setback for other films. The shooting part is likely to wrapped by December. But, Chaitu’s marriage plans and other production works might defer the plans. Also, the makers need to sort the hurdles with OTT partner Netflix because the streaming platform holds NBK109 digital rights and it cannot agree for two releases in the same week.
Medium and small budget films like Majaka starring Sundeep Kishan in the lead role under the direction of Nakkina Trinadha Rao and Sharwanand’s Nari Nari Naduma Murari are also aiming for release for festival. The filming of both these projects will be completed shortly and the makers might not defer the plans because there is always space for dark horses during Sankranti.
As of now, only Game Changer locked the release date. In the next few weeks, the remaining films might announce the dates. It remains to be seen who will stay in the clash and who will exit. There might some more last minute additions to the fight.