16 Times Balakrishna And Chiranjeevi Movies Clashed At The Box Office

After nearly 13 years, the biggest heroes in Telugu cinema clashed at the box-office with their respective milestone movies. Balakrishna with his 100th movie 'Gautamiputra Satakarni' and Chiranjeevi with his 150th film, 'Khaidi No. 150' chose 2017 Sankranthi as their platform. While Chiru gave everyone a nostalgic feel with his return and screen presence, Balayya mesmerised everyone with his power packed performance. Looks like both the movies will be getting what they deserve. 

‘Lakshmi Narasimha’ was directed by Janyanth C. Paranjee which is the remake of the Tamil movie ‘Samy’. The action entertainer became a huge hit at the box office. Chiru’s mythological fantasy thriller ‘Anji’ got released one day after. The movie was directed by Kodi Ramakrishna which was built on a huge budget. This fantasy thriller did not hit the right chord with the audience and failed at the box office.

This is the second time two movies of these heroes released in Sankranthi time. One is a faction entertainer titled ‘Narasimha Naidu’ starring Nata Simha and another is Hollywood-inspired action thriller ‘Mrugaraju’ starring Megastar. ‘Narasimha Naidu’ which was directed by B. Gopal was well received and became the industry hit of that time whereas Gunasekhar directorial ‘Mrugaraju’ bombed at the box office.

In 2000, ‘Vamshoddharakudu’ and ‘Annayya’ released in a gap of 7 days. This is the first time where Chiru’s and Balayya’s movies clashed at the box office for Sankranthi. Muthyala Subbaiah’s directorial ‘Annayya’ received a good response but Sarath’s directorial ‘Vamshoddharakudu’ failed to cash the festive season.

‘Samarasimha Reddy’ fetched a huge fan base for Balakrishna. The movie became a cult classic in the faction genre. This is another huge hit in the combination of B. Gopal and Balayya. Chiranjeevi’s ‘Sneham Kosam’ which was directed by K.S. Ravikumar released a week before but could not fetch much success. The movie was declared as an average at the box office.

After almost 10 years of gap, the box office rivalry began again in 1997. Balakrishna’s family entertainer 'Peddannaya' and Chiranjeevi’s ‘Hitler’ released at the same time. Though the movies clashed at the box office, one did not affect the other, since both the movies have received positive response from the audience. At the end of their theatrical run, both the movies turned out to be blockbusters.

The trend continued in 1988 also and once again both the stars bagged success at the box office. ‘Inspector Pratap’ directed by Muthyala Subbaiah and ‘Manchi Donga’ directed by K. Raghavendra Rao became hits at the box office. Both the stars attained mass stardom through these movies.

Balayya starrer ‘Ramu’ was directed by Y. Nageshwara Rao and Chiru starrer ‘Pasivadi Pranam’ directed by Kodandarami Reddy released with 7 days gap. Both the movies became huge hits at the box office and received critical acclaim.

‘Apoorva Sahodarulu’ and ‘Rakshasudu’ released with a 7 days gap and entered the Dussehra race in October 1986. Though both have received positive response from the audience, Chiru’s movie which released 7 days earlier, won the Dussehra race by collecting highest at the box office.

‘Nippulanti Manishi’ and ‘Kondaveeti Raja’ released with the gap of 7 days. Interestingly, both the movies have received  positive response from the audience. Though both fared well, Chiru’s flick 'Kondaveti Raja' collected more at the box office.

This is one of the few instances where the movies of both the stars have seen success. Balakrishna starrer ‘Bhargava Ramudu’ and Chiranjeevi starrer ‘Donga Mogudu’ have received success at the same time. Both the movies shared the collections almost equally this time.

This is the first time where the movies of these stars released on the same day. Chiranjeevi’s ‘Chattamtho Poratam’ and Balakrishna’s ‘Atmabalam’ both released on 11 January 1985 among which Chiru’s movie won at the box office whereas Balayya's movie just passed as an average. This is the first time Chiru won at the box office, when Chiru’s and Balayya’s films clashed on the same day.

Murali Mohan Rao directorial 'Kathanayakudu' is a fourth consecutive hit of Balakrishna at the box office. This movie has established Balayya as star hero in TFI. Yet again, Chiru movie clashed with this at the box office. Chiru’s 'Rusthum' released after 7 days and could not impress the audience.

It is the second time in the same year the movies of Balakrishna and Chiranjeevi clashed at the box office. Balayya’s ‘Muddula Krishnaiyya’ stole the show and became a super hit. Chiru’s ‘Magadheerudu which was released after 7 days received an average response at the box office.

Senior NTR directorial ‘Sri Veera Brahmendra Swami’ was a huge hit in 1984. Chiru’s ‘Agnigundam’, which was directed by Kranthi Kumar, came 6 days after NTR's film. Unfortunately, Chiru starrer did not fetch needed success to its makers. But, in the case of ‘Sri Veera Brahmendra Swami’, though Balakrishna starred, the credit goes to senior NTR as he himself directed and acted in this film which helped the success of it.

Balakrishna starrer ‘Mangamma Gari Manavadu’ released on 3 September 1984 and Chiranjeevi’s ‘Intiguttu’ released a day after. This is notably the first clash of these two stars at the box office. Kodi Ramakrishna directorial ‘Mangamma Gari Manavadu’ became industry hit by completing 500 days in theaters, whereas K. Bapayya’s ‘Intuguttu’ was only an average hit.