Puri Jagannadh's Game Over? Is There Any Way?

Director Puri Jagannadh will be remembered in the history of Telugu cinema for presenting his heroes in an iconic way, with movies that have a long shelf life. But that’s all in the past, and now he is struggling for success.

For more than a decade, he hasn’t delivered a memorable film. The only blockbuster iSmart Shankar in 2019 is also considered not to be a great film.

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It was expected that he would deliver at least a half-decent film with Double iSmart, a sequel to iSmart Shankar. But he disappointed all once again.

Despite the Independence Day holiday boost, Double iSmart had a disappointing opening, and a dramatic crash in box office collections on its second day suggests that it is all over for Puri Jagan.

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But is it all over, yet?

Puri Jagannadh has the potential for a comeback, but it depends on his willingness to step away from his own scriptwriting and collaborate with fresh, innovative writers. He needs to become less self-obsessed and work with other good writers.

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The general perception is that his films have become utterly predictable and boring. He is still making films on the same template of reckless hero, cringy romance between hero and heroine, then mafia backdrop, drugs syndicate, shooting in Thailand for no reason, creating vulgar characters in the name of comedy, and then adding some mother sentiment to make it look like a legit movie.

This formula has grown stale, and audiences are increasingly frustrated.

The last time Puri Jagannadh deviated from this formula was in 2014 with Temper starring NTR, a script written by another writer that turned out to be one of his better works in recent years.

Puri Jagannadh should start collaborating with other writers, choose excellent scripts, and direct them. This is the only way he can survive in the industry; otherwise, many believe his creative ideas as a writer have dried up.