Mic in Hand, Naga Vamsi Makes a Comeback

Naga Vamsi is one of the few Telugu producers who openly talks about his films. Over the years, he gained trust from audiences, and when he showed confidence, it often meant the film would be good. But not every release worked for him.

Recently, he faced setbacks with two films. Vijay Deverakonda’s Kingdom, produced by him, did not perform well at the box office. War 2, starring Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR, was distributed by him in Telugu states but did not meet expectations either. At the pre-release event of War 2, Vamsi said Telugu box office openings should cross Hindi openings, a comment that did not sit well with NTR fans and led to backlash.

Now, Vamsi has bounced back with success. Lokah Part 1: Chandra, starring Kalyani Priyadarshan and produced by Dulquer Salmaan’s Wayfarer Films, was released in Telugu by Sithara Entertainments. The film opened to strong collections and crossed ₹100 crore worldwide in the first week. The Telugu version is also doing well, with good growth in the second weekend. To celebrate, Vamsi brought Dulquer and the film’s team to Hyderabad for a success meet.

At the event, Vamsi said, “When I watched the glimpse of the film, I immediately told Dulquer sir’s team that I would distribute it. Today, we are seeing the result.” He praised Dulquer for completing the film on a budget of around ₹30 crore, which is big for a female-oriented Malayalam film. He also made a light comment about Telugu directors Naga Ashwin and Venky Atluri, who were present, saying, “You don’t know, sir, how much we spent on the bank set for Lucky Baskhar.”

Concluding his speech, he said, “Lokah is a film that should be watched in theatres. Now that it is released, I can confidently ask everyone to go and enjoy it on the big screen.” This caught attention because earlier, during War 2, he had said he would never again ask audiences to watch his films if they failed to meet expectations.