Sankranthi 2026 gets overcrowded again with 5 Telugu, 2 Tamil films ft. Chiranjeevi, Prabhas, Vijay after 2024 fiasco

It looks like the Telugu film industry learnt nothing from the 2024 Sankranthi debacle, which ended with Teja Sajja's HanuMan knocking it out of the park.

The Sankranthi of 2024 was an eventful one for Telugu cinema when Teja Sajja’s HanuMan clashed with Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram, Nagarjuna’s Naa Saami Ranga and Venkatesh’s Saindhav to emerge on top. Jokes were cracked, and conversations surrounding theatre allotment were sparked in the aftermath. However, it appears that Tollywood has learned nothing from that debacle, as Sankranthi 2026 already has five Telugu films and two Tamil-dubbed films vying for space and theatres.

Prabhas and Vijay's The Raja Saab and Jana Nayagan will be released for Sankranthi.

Sankranthi 2026’s overcrowded line-up

By now, it has become the norm that if Anil Ravipudi has a film release, it will ideally be around Dasara or Sankranti. His upcoming film, Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, with Chiranjeevi and Nayanthara, is slated for release during the festive season, though an official release date has yet to be announced.

Joining it is Maruthi’s much-delayed horror comedy The Raja Saab with Prabhas, Sanjay Dutt, Nidhhi Agerwal, Malavika Mohanan, and Riddhi Kumar. It is confirmed for release on January 9. Kishore Tirumala’s yet-to-be-titled film with Ravi Teja is also targeting a Sankranthi release, although a specific date has yet to be confirmed.

Another much-delayed release, Maari, also known as Kalyan Shankar’s Anaganaga Oka Raju, starring Naveen Polishetty and Meenakshi Chaudhary, is slated for release on January 14. And now, Ram Abbaraju’s Sharwanand, Sakshi Vaidya and Samyuktha-starrer Nari Nari Naduma Murari has also joined the race.

While five films vying for theatres is already a lot, there will also be the dubbed versions of H Vinoth’s Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan and Sudha Kongara’s Sivakarthikeyan and Ravi Mohan-starrer Parasakthi, which will be releasing on January 9 and 12, respectively.

The debacle of Sankranthi 2024

Sankranthi 2024 initially had Telugu films HanuMan, Guntur Kaaram, Naa Saami Ranga, Saindhav, Ravi’s Eagle, and Tamil films Dhanush’s Captain Miller, Sivakarthikeyan’s Ayalaan, Vijay Sethupathi-Katrina Kaif’s Merry Christmas, and Arun Vijay’s Mission: Chapter 1 lined up for release. Out of these, only Eagle dropped out of the race, with the rest of the films vying for theatres in the Telugu states.

Despite passive-aggressive remarks at press meets and what seemed like constant pressure on team HanuMan to drop out of the race, they fought for better theatres and emerged on top with a ₹295 crore worldwide haul vs the ₹180.5 crore Guntur Kaaram made. Saindhav failed to make a mark, while Naa Saami Ranga was termed average.

By Sankranthi 2025, it seemed like better sense had prevailed with Shankar’s Ram Charan, SJ Suryah and Kiara Advani-starrer Game Changer, Bobby’s Balakrishna-starrer Daaku Maharaaj and Anil Ravipudi’s Venkatesh-starrer Sankranthiki Vasthunam duking it out with only Bala’s Arun-starrer Vanangaan and Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s Ravi-Nithya Menen-starrer Kadhalikka Neramillai from Tamil.

The lineup of 2026, so far, however, suggests that things might just be back to square one.