27th October 2004
Virginia

After watching Shankar Dada MBBS in Virginia last weekend, one wonders if the movie was being played in America or Amalapuram. It was a breath-taking experience to see the humongous crowds thronging to see their dearest hero, Chiranjeevi, perform sheer magic on the silver screen. Much has been said about the fact that this movie is a remake, but one forgets in a hurry that the most difficult task for a filmmaker is to emulate and re-perform under the pressure of high expectations. Chiranjeevi emerges a winner from the beginning, just as he has consistently done for the past 2 decades.

The crowds have been very well behaved; all the shows progressed without any disturbances. At the same time, the hungama and celebrations made many wonder whether the movie was being played in America or Andhra. For the Friday show there was a full crowd of 100%. On Saturday, for the 2.30 show, around 50 people came dressed in medical aprons, of the type worn by Chiru in the movie, and created a hungama beyond imagination. The chanting of "Shankar Dada MBBS HU HA HU HA" and "MEGASTAR ZINDABAD" went on continuously throughout the movie. The total strength for this crowd was around 90%. The 5.30 show had around 90% audience members. The Sunday crowds beat all expectations when around 95% people came in, despite the usual trend of a poor box office showing on the last day of a film's run. More than 100 people saw the movie for a second time. Total attendance for Shankar DADA MBBS in Virginia was 2000+. This is a record for the largest crowd in four showings. Chiru did it in style and proved why he is the best.

Right from the word GO, there has never been a dull moment in the movie. This movie had the crowd in splits for about 95% of the time. The best part is even emotional scenes invoked a great response from the crowds. Overall, it's an excellent entertainer from Chiru. When Chiru appeared on the screen in titles, the entire auditorium shouted wildly. Never and I mean NEVER have I seen such a kind of adulation. Tagore and Indra had crowds shouting wildly but for Shankar Dada MBBS the crowd chanting even beat the earlier movies. ABSOLUTELY BREATH-TAKING EXPERIENCE watching the auditorium go GA-GA for Chiru Girls showed that they no less when it comes to adulating Chiru. Throughout the movie "Shankar Dada Mbbs Hu Ha Hu Ha" mantra was being chanted.

Gemini Film Circuit International welcomed Sri. JSV Prasad IAS by offering him bouquet and welcoming him to the movie. Sri. Prasad formerly worked as district collector of East Godavari and Vishakapatnam districts and is on an official visit to the USA. Sri. Prasad after the show, mentioned that he was surprised to see the crowd reaction and adulation towards Chiranjeevi.