Actor Nani shared the first look of Tuck Jagadish, his upcoming Telugu film, on Friday. The makers of Tuck Jagadish also announced it will release in theatres in April 2021.
Nani shared his character’s name – Jagadish Naidu, who is also called Tuck Jagadish. The film also stars Ritu Varma and Aishwarya Rajesh. Supporting cast members include Jagapathi Babu, Nasser, Daniel Balaji, Tiruveer, Rohini, Devadarshini, and Praveen.
Tuck Jagadish is releasing in theatres at a time when theatres across the country are struggling to make ends meet. Single-screen cinema halls in Hyderabad are being rented by Amazon to be used as godowns, theatre associations told Silverscreen India.
Due to the 50% occupancy, many film producers are also hesitant to bring forward their films for a theatrical release. Sai Tej’s Solo Brathuke So Better that released in theatres on Friday, was the first Telugu big-budget film to hit the theatres during the pandemic. The Andhra Pradesh government last week announced a restart package for theatres, including waiving off the electricity charges for theatres for the months of April, May and June. Zero-interest working capital loans of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh have also been introduced for theatre owners to help them get back on their feet. Telangana is yet to announce such a package for the theatres in the state.
Speaking with Silverscreen India about how such big film releases will impact theatres in Telangana, Balwant Singh, the founder of Kauphy Cinemas in Hyderabad, says that the impact of a single film cannot be assessed without looking at the box office numbers and that they will have to wait for a few days after its release. Assuring that OTT platforms can never have the upper hand over theatres, he said, “Today, we had Wonder Woman releasing which will help the industry come out with better content. Even if you bring Wonder Woman online, I will prefer to watch it in theatre as it requires a large screen experience.”
Balwant agreed that the situation has been bad for theatres in Telangana and said, “If two-three big movies come then the audience will also come and everything will get settled. What we need now is big actors coming and delivering some blockbusters.”
Recommended
The film was originally slated for a summer 2020 release. Shooting had been nearly completed but had to be halted due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The team later resumed shooting in October.
Tuck Jagadish is produced jointly by Sahu Garapati and Harish Peddi under the Shine Screens Banner. While SS Thaman has scored the music for the film, Prasad Murella has handled the cinematography. Prawin Pudi will handle the editing and Sahi Suresh the art. The fight sequences have been handled by Venkat.
Tuck Jagadish marks the second film being made by Nani and director Shiva Nirvana after the 2017 hit Telugu romantic comedy film Ninnu Kori.