Telugu versions of Thalaivii, Laabam and Seetimaarr to battle it out at theatres for Vinayaka Chavithi

Vinayaka Chavithi is among the few festivals in the year where multiple Telugu films compete for the attention of audiences at theatres. However, given the COVID-19 situation across the Telugu states, the scenario this time around isn't exactly encouraging in theatres that are desperate to return to normalcy. With Sekhar Kammula's Love Story opting out of the Vinayaka Chavithi race, Gopichand's sports drama Seetimarr has pushed its release to the festival day i.e. September 10. While Kangana Ranaut's biopic on Jayalalithaa, Thalaivii, directed by AL Vijay, is also slated to release in Telugu on September 10, another dubbed film in the form of Vijay Sethupathi-Shruti Haasan starrer Laabam (Telugu dubbed version), is confirmed to release on September 9. 

Laabam is a political thriller, surrounding the corporatisation of agriculture, directed by late filmmaker SP Jhananathan (who passed away earlier this year) with music by D Imman. Produced by P Arumuga Kumar and Vijay Sethupathi, the film will simultaneously release in Telugu and Tamil on September 9. Sree Battula Satyanarayana and Lawyer Sreeram of Gayathri Devi Films have bagged the distribution rights for the Telugu version. Jagapathi Babu, Sai Dhansika, Ramesh Thilak, Prudhvirajan too play key roles in the film. The team at Gayathri Devi Films has expressed its confidence in the film's output and opines that the story mirrors the ground realities of farmers across the Telugu states and Tamil Nadu.

This Vinayaka Chavithi is a rare case where the dubbed film releases outnumber the straight Telugu films across the Telugu states. This can also be an outside advantage for all the three films, which feature big stars like Gopichand, Tamannaah, Kangana Ranaut, Shruti Haasan and Vijay Sethupathi, to draw crowds in huge numbers. Apart from the theatrical releases, Nani's family entertainer Tuck Jagadish, directed by Shiva Nirvana, will stream directly on Amazon Prime Video for September 10. The film also stars Ritu Varma, Aishwarya Rajesh, Rohini, Jagapathi Babu and has music by S Thaman. Other Telugu OTT releases for the festival include the web shows The Baker and the Beauty and Maha Ganesha on aha.