Nagarjuna’s new film ‘The Ghost’ to release on 5 October

Telugu star Nagarjuna’s new film The Ghost will release in cinemas on 5 October.

Nagarjuna has acted in over 100 films, predominantly in Telugu, along with a few Hindi and Tamil language films.

In 1989, he starred in the Mani Ratnam-directed romantic drama film Geetanjali, which won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The following year, he was seen in Siva, an action drama blockbuster directed by Ram Gopal Varma, which was remade in Hindi in 1990, as Shiva with which he made his Bollywood debut.

He is well known for his works in biographical films. He played 15th-century composer Annamacharya in Annamayya (1997), Yavakri (the son of the ascetic Bharadvaja) in Agni Varsha (2002), Major Padmapani Acharya in war film LOC: Kargil (2003), 17th-century composer Kancherla Gopanna in Sri Ramadasu (2006), Suddala Hanmanthu in Rajanna (2011), Sai Baba of Shirdi in Shirdi Sai (2012), Chandaludu in Jagadguru Adi Shankara (2013), and Hathiram Bhavaji in Om Namo Venkatesaya (2017).

Revenue generated from ticket sales between January and April in India was at an all time high of Rs. 4,002 crore for the period, according to a report by media consulting firm Ormax and media investment firm GroupM. Besides for the first time monthly average collections was at over Rs. 1,000 crore, the report added. In comparison, in the first four months of 2019 box office collection was at Rs. 3,550 crore.

Regional language contribution to revenues has played a major role with Telugu cinema seeing significant growth in share of box office collections in the last three years. In January-April, almost 60% of Hindi box office revenue came from dubbed versions of south Indian films, thanks to two big releases, K.G.F: Chapter 2 and RRR, the report said. In the four-month period Telugu films contributed 27% to overall revenues compared to 12% in 2019 while Hindi cinema’s share fell from 43% in 2018 and 39% in 2019 to 38% in 2022.