27 December 2006
Hyderabad

Nuvvantene Ishtam, Nuvvu kadantene kashtam
Em Cheyamantavo priyatama
Aakasham nelaina, ee nele ningaina
Aa rendoo lekunna…

goes the beautiful song picturized in the beautiful locales of the desert in Arizona/Utah and amongst those colorful airplanes in Mojave Desert near Los Angeles, California. Tollywood’s latest sensation Ileana and an energetic Ram in their maiden movie ‘Devadasu’ captured the hearts of Telugu audience and gave Tollywood its first hit of the year 2006.In this article, we present you the top ten hits of this year sorted by their release dates.

Devadasu(11th Jan):
YVS Chowdary presented the typical rich-girl poor-boy story in a new flavor and convinced the audience to give the first silver jubilee movie of the year. Ram’s characterization coupled with his mannerisms breathed life into that energetic degree-college student character. Ileana, as a NRI girl interested in learning music, steps into India only to find her love in the form of Ram in the movie. Chakri’s foot-tapping music coupled with Chandrabose and Sirivennela’s lyrics made the songs of this movie chart-topper instantly.

Lakshmi(14th Jan):
Victory Venkatesh continued his winning streak in the year 2006 also. He came in front of the tollywood audience in the form of ‘Lakshmi Narayana’ referred as ‘Lakshmi’ by his kith and kin in the movie. Tollywood’s highest paid director V.V.Vinayak gave Venky his first hit in their combination. Venky acts as an elder brother of two brothers and two sisters of a close knit family. He performs the marriage of his elder sister in the most lavish manner but tries to perform his younger sister’s marriage in a simple way. Why he does so and how Nayanatara is connected to their family forms the story of this movie. Akula Shiva’s story though a combo of several old stories was accepted by the Telugu movie lovers and became Tollywood’s second hit of the year.

Ranam(10th Feb):
Amma Rajashekhar debuted as a director in this year and gave a hit in the combination of Tollywood’s latest angry young man ‘Gopichand’. Pokuri Babu Rao of Eetharam movies churned a commercial entertainer and gave the third hit of the year to Tollywood. Mani Sharma’s excellent combination of class and mass songs coupled with Amma Rajashekhar’s imagination proved Gopichand is not only an intense hero but also a good dancer. His mass steps in the song ‘E Chinna, Ra Chinna’ were appreciated well by the viewers. Kamna Jethmalani got the first hit of her career with this movie.

Sri Ramadasu(30th Mar):
Raghavendra rao, the 100+ movie directorial veteran of Tollywood teamed up with Nagarjuna after a gap of 9 years to churn the devotional magnum opus of the year ‘Sri Ramadasu’. Keeravani’s soul-stirring music coupled with Raghavendra rao’s song-picturizing expertise mesmerized the viewers and gave tollywood the fourth hit of the year. Nagarjuna proved that he is the only actor in the current generation who can act in class, mass and devotional movies. Raghavendra Rao as ever proves his directorial capability. Sneha as Kamala, stole the hearts of the audience with her subtle and balanced emotions. Nagarjuna fans are 100% convinced that this movie will definitely get their hero the coveted ‘Nandi’ award and a plethora of other awards. Will the jury members of the respective award committees agree with them is something that we all have to wait and see.

Pokiri(28th Apr):
Mahesh Babu rewrote the records of the 75 year old telugu cinema with his latest industrial hit, Pokiri. Puri Jagan with his simple story line, energetic dialogues and proper establishment of all characters gave Tollywood its biggest hit in 75 years. Tollywood’s lucky lass Ileana proved lucky for the second time and gave her second silver jubilee movie of the year. Mani Sharma teamed with Mahesh and gave the best foot-tapping music of the year. ‘Ippatikinka na vayasu’ and ‘Dole Dole’ being the best in the album.

Godavari(19th May):
Shekhar Kammula continued his winning streak in this year with the refreshing ‘Godavari’. The movie shot about 70% on the beautiful Godavari river is a feast for the audience to watch. Sumanth’s mature acting coupled with the apt dialogues for his character did total justice to his character. Kamalini also proved to be a big asset to the movie. Radhakrishnan’s music coupled with Veturi’s lyrics were instant hit with the audience. Tanikella Bharani’s role as Captain Chintamani was also a hit with the audience.

Vikramarkudu(23rd June):
The director with the highest hit ratio in Tollywood, SS Rajamouli added another hit to his cap this year in the form of Vikramarkudu. Raviteja dons the powerful role of a cop ‘Vikram Rathore’ and also a street smart petty thief ‘Attili Sattibabu’ in this movie. Keeravani’s foot-tapping music coupled with beautiful picturization of the songs became an asset to the movie. Anuskha as Ruthika filled the glamour quotient while Ajay acted as the main villain in the movie. Brahmandam-Raviteja-Rajeev kanakala’s comedy was the highlight in the movie. Raviteja’s Jinthatha mannerism proved an instant hit with the masses.

Bommarillu(9th Aug):
Talk about movie success and you think about ‘Dil Raju’ now-a-days. Dil Raju gave the biggest hit of his career in this year in the form of ‘Bommarillu’. Debutante director Bhaskar’s ability to tell a common household story to the utmost satisfaction of the viewers made this movie one of the biggest hits of the year. Devisri’s music made this movie a chart topper in no time. Siddharth’s excellent portrayal of a son who is always given too much than what he requires by his Dad was too good. Genelia’s subtle action coupled with her innocent mannerisms became the talk of the town instantly. This movie impressed almost all the viewers who saw it. We honestly wish tollywood produces these kind of movies more often.

Andala Ramudu(18th Aug):
A successful top-rated comedian becoming a successful hero with his first movie is not new to Tollywood. Sunil, the current top rated comedian followed the footsteps of other successful comedians like Brahmanandam, Babumohan, Ali, Venumadhav and acted as Ramu, an innocent not-so-good looking village guy who is in love with Radha. SA Rajkumar’s soothing tunes coupled with Sunil’s terrific dances bought the audience again and again to the theatre. Aarti Agarwal performance was also well appreciated.

Stalin (20th Sep):
The King of Telugu Cinema proves why he is the Numero-Uno for more than two decades with his latest flick ‘Stalin’. Megastar Chiranjeevi after crowned with the coveted ‘Padmabhushan’ came in front of the audience in the form of Stalin, an ex-military officer who comes to change the society with his simple, do-able and believable formula of ‘help 3 people and ask them to do the same’. The movie is supposed to have fetched more than 24 crores in the first two weeks itself. Irrespective of the commercial outcome of the movie, Dr.Chiranjeevi declared in the audio function that the character of the movie was very close to this real-life character. Paruchuri brothers proved the last 10-year history correct again by telling the world that whenever they team up with Chiru, the result is a blockbuster. Trisha, Sharada and Khushboo did justice to their characters and so did the remaining cast and crew.

2006 was a better year for tollywood when compared to 2005 where many hits were dubbed movies from Tamil. Style, Kithakithalu, Bhagyalakshmi Bumper draw, Samanyudu and Pellaina Kottalo were also good at the box office.