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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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