Mahesh Babu, Chiranjeevi, Anushka Shetty, Ravi Teja Headline 16-Strong Netflix Telugu Film Slate

A galaxy of stars feature in a 16-strong Telugu-language film slate that will bow on Netflix after their theatrical release.

Netflix revealed the titles on Jan. 14, the day celebrated in many parts of India as the Sankranti or Pongal harvest festival, which is also a period when big ticket films release. Several of the titles will also be made available on the service in the Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages.

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Mahesh Babu headlines Haarika & Hassine Creations’ project known currently as “SSMB28,” directed by Trivikram Srinivas and costarring Pooja Hegde. Megastar Chiranjeevi, whose “Waltair Veerayya” is currently in cinemas, stars in AK Entertainments’ “Bhola Shankar,” directed by Meher Ramesh and costarring Tamannaah Bhatia and Keerthy Suresh.

“Baahubali” star Anushka Shetty leads UV Creations’ production no. 14, directed by Mahesh Babu P. and costarring Naveen Polishetty, and Netflix will also stream the company’s untitled film, which is actor Kartikeya Gummakonda’s eighth, directed by Prashanth reddy.

Ravi Teja stars in People Media Factory and Abhishek Agarwal Arts’ “Dhamaka,” directed by Trinadha Rao Nakkina, while Sundeep Kishan leads Studio Green’s “Buddy,” directed by Sam Anton.

Mythri Movie Makers is contributing two films to the lineup – “Amigos,” starring Nandamuri Kalyan Ram and Ashika Ranganath, directed by Rajendra Reddy; and alongside Clap Entertainment, “Meter,” starring Kiran Abbavaram, directed by Ramesh Kaduri.

Sithara Entertainments has three films in the lineup – alongside Fortune Four Cinemas, “Butta Bomma,” starring Anikha Surendran, Surya Vasishta and Arjun, directed by Shourie Chandrasekhar Ramesh; alongside Srikara Studios a project currently identified as “PVT04,” starring Panja Vaisshnav Tej and Sreeleela, directed by Srikanth Reddy; and alongside Srikara Studios and Fortune Four Cinemas “Tillu Square,” starring Sidhu Jonnalagadda and Anupama Parameswaran, directed by Mallik Ram.

Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra LLP has two titles – “VT12,” starring Varun Tej, directed by Praveen Sattaru; and alongside Sukumar Writings, “Virupaksha,” starring Sai Dharam Tej and Samyuktha Menon, directed by Karthik Varma Dandu. Sukumar Writings, alongside GA2 Pictures and Allu Arvind Presents have “18 Pages,” starring Nikhil Siddhartha and Anupama Parameswaran, directed by Surya Pratap Palnati.

Sri Lakshmi Venkateswara Cinemas also has two titles – their untitled sixth production starring Naga Shaurya, directed by Pawan Basamsetti; and “Dasara,” starring Nani and Keerthy Suresh, directed by Srikanth Odela.

Monika Shergill, VP, content, Netflix India, said: “Our audience has a huge appetite for locally authentic and global stories across India and we want to give them more of what they love. Following the global success of ‘RRR,’ ‘Shyam Singha Roy’ and ‘Ante Sundaraniki,’ we can’t wait to bring our new and exciting line-up of Telugu films to our audiences. The new slate brings a bigger offering of Telugu films across many genres and highlights the bounty of creative talent from South India. With the work that we do behind the scenes around our dubbing and subtitles, we’re pleased to make these films accessible to wider audiences across India and every corner of the world.”

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