Nanban(Telugu) Releases to Mixed Reviews

Snehitudu released today in Telugu and has been receiving mixed to negative reviews. Many reviewers and people have expressed displeasure over Shankar making a xerox copy of 3 Idiots. One of the popular reviewers wrote "All is not well". Common people in Andhra are not even aware of this movie and the songs have not caught on like it did in Tamil. Due to lack of hype, opening and below average initial reviews, the Andhra trade is expecting Snehitudu to be a wash-out in the Box Office. Will Snehitudu be the first failure for Shankar in Telugu? 

On that note, let us also look at the other factors favoring and working against Nanban.

Tailwind

• Tax waiver in TN has come as a savior for Nanban. Due to the 30% saving, the movie is expected to break-even this week in many places. Without the waiver, the movie would have required 2 more weeks of solid run 
• The new rule in TN to release high profile movies only during festival days. Movies like 3 which was planning to release on February 3rd is now pushed out. This has given Nanban a huge advantage for clinging on to the screens for longer time.
• Nanban is able to capitalize on two long weekends (Pongal and Republic Day).

Headwind

• 3 Idiots, the original version was a rage in the country. So, the collection in northern territories and Bangalore have been just average compared to other Shankar movies. 
• The makers need to get creative about bringing people to the theatre. Compared to aggressive UTV marketing for Vettai, Nanban promotions appear muted.

- Vijay Prasad, AP Correspondent