Akhanda 2 Pushes Mowgli Out Of Theatrical Release, Director Sandeep Raj Blames Himself

Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Akhanda 2 will be arriving in theatres on December 12 after a delay due to a financial dispute between 14 Reels Plus and Eros. The movie was supposed to be released on December 5. However, this shift has also sadly become a major setback for the mid-budget Telugu film Mowgli, which had earlier been planned to release on the same day.

Director Sandeep Raj, whose first film Colour Photo also released on OTT in 2020, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a note in which he called himself “bad luck” for theatrical releases.

Sandeep shared a long note on X, taking responsibility for the film missing a theatrical release. "Maybe Colour Photo and Mowgli deserved another DIRECTOR instead of me. These movies were made by a group of passionate people who can do anything for their profession," he wrote. He added that the two films share common points: "Facing bad luck with their release, just when everything seemed to be going well," and "Me".

He continued, “Maybe I am the BAD LUCK. Even I’m starting to feel that way. My dream of seeing the title “Directed by Sandeep Raj” on the big screen is becoming harder day by day. I think SILVERSCREEN hates me 😊 Mowgli was made with the passion, sweat, and blood of so many dedicated people like Roshan, Saroj garu, Sakshi, Harsha, DOP Maruthi, Bhairava and many more. I truly hope that all good things happen to Mowgli at the very least for their sake.”

The release of Nandamuri Balakrishna's Akhanda 2 in cinemas on December 12 has created a major obstacle for Sandeep Raj's Mowgli. The film, featuring Roshan Kanakala and Sakshi Sagar in the lead roles, cannot compete with the big-budget Akhanda 2. Since the producers, People Media Factory, have already finalised an OTT deal, they cannot delay the film either. As a result, the makers have decided to release Mowgli directly on digital platforms.

Sandeep Raj's debut film Colour Photo went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu.

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