Best Telugu Movies In 2018 Which Take Tollywood A Step Ahead

This superstar Mahesh Babu starrer set in fictitious undivided Andhra Pradesh saw him playing the role of a Chief Minister. Bollywood starlet Kiara Advani made her Tollywood debut with this film. Bharath Ane Nenu became one of the highest grossers in both Mahesh's career and Tollywood apart from receiving high critical acclaim. 

Creative director Sukumar weaved this story of good and bad, high and low, and the fight of a couple of youngsters against oppression by the president of the village. Rangasthalam saw an unprecedented success in recent times. That this Ram Charan and Samantha starrer ran for more than 100 days is enough testament for the success of this film. Critical acclaim is just a part of the narration. It is one of the biggest grossers of all time in Telugu. 

Aravinda Sametha which saw Young Tiger N. T. R. and magician of words Trivikram Srinivas team up for the first time. N. T. R. continued his success streak with the film. The movie took a sensational opening at the box office and becoming the fastest Non-Baahubali film to gross Rs. 100 crores. The movie went on to become one of the highest grossing Telugu films of all time, and a third straight 100 crore club movie for N. T. R. 

Nag Ashwin brought heaven to earth with Mahanati. This biopic on the life of legendary South Indian actress Savitri remains as a textbook example of how to make a biopic. Keerthy Suresh's performance is acclaimed not just by the critics and the younger generation of audience, but also by the old timers who watched Savitri movies in theatres. It remains not just one of the best Telugu movies in 2018, Mahanati is one of the all time best films in Telugu. 

Goodachari is not one of the most awaited movies in 2018 just for its protagonist and his track record, it is the first true spy thriller in Telugu in a long long time. Adivi Sesh who had delivered a slick thriller in the form of Kshanam has come up with the unthinkable and pulled off a feat no other in the young generation of Tollywood have done. He mixed emotional layers to a spy thriller like never before in his story and the screenplay he had co-written. Right from the performances of the ensemble cast of Sesh, Prakash Raj, Jagapathi Babu, Sobhitha Dhulipala, Anish Kuruvilla, Madhu Shalini, and Supriya Yarlagadda to the excellent direction of Shashi Kiran Thikka, Goodachari moved beyond expectations. 

Geetha Govindam is a proof that Vijay Devarakonda is the next big star. How could he come up with a followup to the cult act of Arjun Reddy? To repeat such a sensational success is no easy task. Many of his films got postponed multiple times. But he is in the news for mostly the right reasons and his extended cameo of a performance in Mahanati was received well too. Here in Geetha Govindam, he played a role that is a complete opposite of what was expected of him post-Arjun reddy. Govind is innocent, sensible, and a decent young assistant professor. Rashmika Mandanna steals the show as the lead lady in this romantic comedy. Parasuram's direction also received considerable acclaim. 

Tholi Prema is a new age love story that hit a chord with the present generation youth just like the film it borrowed its title from. Varun Tej established himself to be the big star of the younger generation actors. Venky Atluri's slick direction and beautiful dialogues received critical acclaim alongside the performances of the lead pair of Varun Tej and Raashi Khanna. 

First of its kind techno-thriller, Abhimanyudu tells the extent of digital criminality. Director P. S. Mithran comes up with a chilling tale of online fraud. Vishal's trust on the director paid off by becoming the highest grosser in his career. 

RX 100 is the biggest success story of a small film in 2018. Tollywood witnessed boldness in content narration with Guntur Talkies and Arjun Reddy took it to another plane. Then came RX 100 which talked about hitherto undiscussed point in a love story with the added padding of liplocks and romantic scenes. Other than that, the movie is based on a real-life love story, crisp narration, powerful direction, and intense acting from hero Karthikeya who risked being the producer too for this rustic village film. Payal Rajput scored good marks as the heroine who played a negative role. 

Awe is a truly new age film Tollywood produced. Young debutant Prasanth Varma came up with a story that moved Natural star Nani to produce it. A stellar performance from the lead cast of Kajal Aggarwal, Nithya Menen, Regina Cassandra, Eesha Rebba, Srinivas Avasarala, Murali Sharma, Priyadarshi, and the voice cast of Nani and Ravi Teja made Awe a standout film in 2018. 

Indraganti Mohan Krishna again weaved his magic with Sammohanam. This Sudheer Babu starrer romance film about a guy who doesn't like filmy people and a film star of a heroine played gracefully by Aditi Rao Hydari. Sammohanam is well received by the critics as well as the audience. 

Chalo is a surprise winner among the small Tollywood films in 2018. This Naga Shourya starrer is one of the well received films of the year. Rashmika Mandanna made her Tollywood debut. This movie about a youngster who likes to pick fights with others is one of the biggest hits of the year. 

A slick horror thriller, Bhaagamathie once again proved the stardom of Anushka Shetty. Anushka continued her success streak post-Baahubali . Bhaagamathie is also a big hit with the online streamers and of course, it is one of the highly pirated Telugu movies. Such is the popularity of this film. 

Vijay Deverakonda starrer Taxiwala turned out to be a genuine hit at the box office right from the first shows. The movie received generally positive reviews and clicked big with the audience. Taxiwala leaked online before its release but the movie proved that when the audience like the content of a film, nothing stops the movie from becoming a hit that the box office. Newcomer Rahul Sankrityan's steady direction, hilarious comedy and a novel concept of Astral Projection received attention from the critics. 

A tale about a father and a son which discusses currently relevant topic, Needi Naadi Oke Katha can be termed as the best movie released this year. The movie is made on Dogme 95 Manifesto where the filmmaking is based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. Sree Vishnu delivered an immensely laudable performance. 

The controversial historical epic directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Padmavat became a rousing success with critical acclaim. Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh stamped their authority with their performances. 

What started as an independent film produced by a film enthusiast of an NRI, C/o Kancharapalem turned out to be a topic of discussion among the movie buffs. The Venkatesh Maha directorial made on a shoestring budget proved that for creative artists, budget limitations are just a part of the game. The movie depicts the lives of a small village Kancharapalem near the sprawling city of Visakhapatnam (in reality it is a city extension) following four different points of view. The filmmakers pulled a casting coup by going with all new actors who are natives of the region. The end result is a stunningly moving film which leaves the audience think about the circle of life.

Actor Rahul Ravindran wielded the megaphone for the first time with this heartful romantic comedy. It not only gave him a bang of a beginning for his directorial career, it leased a fresh life to actor Sushanth whose previous ventures were failures. Heroine Ruhani Sharma received praise for her performance and Rahul Ravindran bagged a film with the prestigious Annapurna banner. All n all, the movie is like the first rain of the season which brings the smell of earth. 

Karthavyam is the story of a young collector who fights against the corrupt politicians for the benefit of people. Nayanthara proved once again why she is called the lady superstar of this generation with a powerhouse performance with Gopi Nainar directorial. 

Despite not being the first space story in Telugu as advertised, Tik Tik Tik starring Jayam Ravi received praise from the critics and audience approval. 

Tharun Bhascker who started the new wave filmmaking with Pelli Choopulu comes up with its follow up Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi starring a young cast of new faces. Aimed at the youth, this movie scored another success for Tharun Bhascker.

MLA (Manchi Lakshanalunna Abbai) is an old school commercial entertainer with loads of heroism, couple of songs with mass beat, and ample comedy. Kalyan Ram scored a success with this Upendra Madhav debut directorial

For a small film directed by a debutante, Manu created a lot of buzz just because of one name. Phanindra Narsetty gained a considerable following among the youth with his short film. It is the quickest crowdfunding film. It also has the record of having the highest budget for such a film. Manu might not have appealed to the common audience and many of the critics panned the narration but the movie was praised by a section of niche audience for its technical brilliance and out of the box filmmaking by the director Phanindra. The innovative music and cinematography also received a lot of appreciation.