Sai Dharam Tej’s Virupaksha was released on April 21. Helmed by debutant director Karthik Varma Dandu, the movie also featured Samyuktha Menon in the lead. Virupaksha has grabbed the audience’s attention since its release. The supernatural horror mystery recently completed three weeks at the box office. According to the latest report, Virupaksha has collected $1 million in the United States. This is Sai Dharam Tej’s first film to collect a hefty amount at the US box office.
Apart from this, the movie has earned Rs 36.88 crore (Rs 64.4 crore gross) in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Worldwide, the supernatural mystery has minted Rs. 46.19 crores. With this, this movie has already far gone past its break-even target of Rs 23 crore. In three weeks, Virupaksha has earned Rs. 85.65 crore, etching its name as one of the successes in Telugu cinema.
The plot of Virupaksha is set around a village called Rudravanam. The village is haunted by an evil force that kills the residents mysteriously. The protagonist is a firm believer in science, and logic comes to the village, and decides to solve the mystery and help the villagers. What follows is a plot full of twists, thrills and supernatural events.
The film was produced jointly by B. V. S. N. Prasad and Sukumar under the banners of Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra and Sukumar Writings. Apart from Sai Dharam Tej and Samyuktha Menon, the movie also stars Sunil, Rajeev Kanakala, Brahmaji, Ajay, and Ravi Krishna in pivotal roles. The cinematographer of the film was handled by Shamdat, and Navin Nooli was in charge of the editing. B Ajaneesh, who has earlier given the music for blockbusters like Vikrant Rona and Kantara has composed the background score of Virupaksha.
According to reports, the post-theatrical OTT rights to the film have been acquired by popular streaming company Netflix. The film is expected to release on Netflix in Telugu and other languages as well. However, the release date has not yet been finalised.
As for Sai Dharam Tej, the actor has two projects in the pipeline- Samuthirakani’s Bro and an untitled film by Sampath Nandi. Bro also stars Pawan Kalyan and Brahmanandam.
