Ravi Teja’s Eagle drops out of Sankranthi race for the ‘welfare of Telugu cinema’

After the producers' meet on Thursday, Eagle takes the spot first held by Tillu Square, Yatra 2 and Ooru Peru Bhairavakona in February.

The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce, and Telugu Film Producers Council met on Thursday to discuss the clutter of films releasing for Sankranthi. The focus of the meeting was to discuss which of the five films hitting screens could be postponed to a later date. (Also Read: Telugu films to clash at the box office this Sankranthi)

Ravi Teja in a still from Eagle

Eagle drops out

Confirming that Eagle has dropped out of the race, Ravi Teja announced on X and Instagram that the film will be released on February 9. “Taking a step back for the welfare of our Telugu Cinema. A little change in the arrival not in the shot & target. #EAGLE from February 9th,2024 :)))) Wishing the very best to all the films releasing this Sankranthi.”

Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela, Meenakshi Chaudhary's Guntur Kaaram and Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar's HanuMan will release on January 12 as planned while Venkatesh, Shraddha Srinath, Ruhani Sharma and Andrea Jeremaiah's Saindhav will release on January 13 and Nagarjuna, Ashika Ranganath, Allari Naresh, Raj Tarun and Rukshar Dhillon's Naa Saami Ranga on January 14.

Producers’ meet

At the press meet held after the meeting, producer Dil Raju said, “There is always an urge to release films for Sankranthi because it guarantees good business but the team of Eagle has agreed to back down. The other four films will now get a chance to get more screens and do good business.”

Producer Prasanna Kumar thanked the team for withdrawing from the race while producer Damodar Prasad stated, “We discussed the ground reality of cluttering theatres for Sankranthi. We held a meeting 15 days ago also. This move has been taken not for the individual profit of anyone but for the benefit of everyone.”

Anupam Reddy from Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce said that Ravi Teja and his team backing out showed “unity in the film industry.”

Solo release promised?

Previously, Dil Raju had told the press that whoever backed off from Sankranthi was promised a good solo release later. Many had expected Eagle to release on Republic Day but were surprised to see the team opt for a February release.

Especially so, because Jiiva and Mammootty’s Yatra 2 team had already announced that the film will be released on February 8 and have refused to back down so far.

Producer Naga Vamsi has agreed to postpone the release of Siddu Jonnalagadda and Anupama Parameswaran’s Tillu Square, the sequel of DJ Tillu, but producer Anil Sunkara’s Sundeep Kishan starrer Ooru Peru Bhairavakona is also expected to release around then. Tillu Square and Ooru Peru Bhairavakona have also faced release issues in the past.

Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! 🎞️🍿💃 Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel 📲 Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place