HT Rewind 2024: How Pushpa 2 The Rule, HanuMan, Kalki 2898 AD brought about a Tollywood renaissance after a dull 2023 (2025)

After a lukewarm 2023, which saw more misses than hits, Tollywood seems to have redeemed itself in 2024. Not only did the year see a Telugu film becoming the highest-grosser for the year, it also became the first year to have two over ₹1000 crore grossers release within months of each other. (Also Read: HT Rewind 2024: Teja Sajja says HanuMan kicking off the year in style is the moment he'd been ‘waiting for’ | Exclusive)

Looking back at a dismal 2023

2023 began with Chiranjeevi-starrer Waltair Veerayya and Balakrishna-starrer Veera Simha Reddy leaving a mark, but it was nothing compared to the critical acclaim films like Nani-starrer Dasara, Sai Durgha Tej-starrer Virupaksha and Anand Deverakonda-starrer Baby had gotten.

And then came Prabhas-starrer Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire, ending the year on a high note, collecting over ₹600 crore and becoming the year’s highest grosser in Telugu. Hindi films like Jawan, Pathaan, Animal and Gadar 2 still did better in comparison to what the Telugu film industry hoped would be a juggernaut.

Tollywood strikes back and how!

And then rolled around 2024. With Teja Sajja-starrer HanuMan kicking off the year by bringing in over ₹300 crore worldwide – all while being made on a budget of under ₹40 crore – it felt like hunting season was on for Tollywood. Mahesh Babu-starrer Guntur Kaaram, Venkatesh-starrer Saindhav and Nagarjuna-starrer Naa Saami Ranga paled in comparison.

After that, the year just kept delivering hits, even if there were a few disappointments along the way. There was the Siddhu Jonnalagadda-starrer Tillu Square soon after in March, which made almost as much money as Guntur Kaaram did, despite also being made on a low budget.

Just when people thought the second quarter looked bleak, Prabhas-starrer Kalki 2898 AD delivered in June what Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire was expected to. Till date, the actor’s fans debate on which film is better, despite the sci-fi bringing in over ₹1042 crore worldwide, but I digress. And before you knew it, Kalki 2898 AD held the spot for the highest-grosser of the year in all languages and refused to budge despite stiff competition from big-budget releases like Singham Again, The Greatest of All Time or Devara: Part 1.

Tollywood rode on this high the next quarter, with films like Nani-starrer Saripodhaa Sanivaaram, Nivetha Thomas-starrer 35 and Sima Koduri-starrer Mathu Vadalara keeping movie buffs sated till Jr NTR-starrer Devara: Part 1 was released in September end. Expectations were high on the film which was touted to be the Telugu Game of Thrones (in Kalyanram’s words), and it even made over ₹421 crore at the box office, becoming the third highest-grosser of the year in Telugu and the seventh highest-grosser in India. But mixed reviews dampened spirits.

After Devara: Part 1, things perked up in the final quarter with Kiran Abbavaram-starrer KA and Dulquer Salmaan-starrer Lucky Baskhar also joining the list of this year’s top films at ₹53 crore and ₹106 crore.

The Pushpa 2: The Rule phenomenon

Then came along Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa 2: The Rule in early December, seemingly essaying the ‘thaggede le’ (I won’t back down) attitude its lead character has. Paid premieres on December 4 brought in good reviews. But, it also saw the unfortunate death of a woman and the hospitalisation of her young son after a stampede at Sandhya Theatre.

Even as the film continued to break barriers at the box office, bringing in over ₹1500 crore till date, becoming the highest-grossing Hindi, Telugu and Indian film for the year, coming third only to Dangal ( ₹2070 crore) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion ( ₹1788 crore), the film’s lead was arrested in the fan death case and released on interim bail.

Despite the off-screen troubles, Pushpa 2: The Rule became the second Telugu film to earn over ₹1000 crore and the fourth after Baahubali 2, RRR ( ₹1230 crore), and Kalki 2898 AD. According to a BookMyShow report, it is also the most-watched film of the year. With no competition in sight for the film in Telugu till Ram Charan-starrer Game Changer releases in January 2025, it’s safe to say Pushpa 2: The Rule might just hold on to its top spot for a while.