Koratala Siva’s Phone Call to Siddhu After Jack Flopped

Siddhu Jonnalagadda has been one of the most talked-about young actors in Telugu cinema over the last few years. After making his mark with DJ Tillu and Tillu Square, he became a familiar name among Telugu households. However, his recent film Jack, released earlier this year, turned out to be a major disappointment both for the audience and the trade.

Siddhu’s journey in films began more than a decade ago with small roles before he got his first major break with Krishna and His Leela. The film, though appreciated, was released directly on OTT during the pandemic. His real breakthrough came with DJ Tillu, which changed the course of his career. The sequel, Tillu Square, became a blockbuster and entered the 100-crore club, strengthening his position as a crowd-puller known for his unique dialogue delivery and comic timing.

But Jack was a setback. The film failed to create buzz before release and couldn’t recover after negative word of mouth. It ended up as the biggest disaster in Siddhu’s career, collecting less than one-tenth of Tillu Square’s box office numbers. Siddhu even returned Rs 4.5 crore from his remuneration to help the producers minimize losses.

During the promotions of his upcoming film Telusu Kada, Siddhu opened up about handling pressure after a blockbuster. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, he said, “After Tillu Square, I knew at least one or two films would suffer because of the expectations. When Jack failed, Koratala Siva garu called me and said, ‘You’ve seen both extremes — the peak with Tillu Square and the fall with Jack. From here on, nothing will surprise you. Whatever comes next will be somewhere in between.’”

Siddhu said those words helped him gain a new perspective on dealing with ups and downs, though he admitted that “pain is pain when your film doesn’t do well.”

Telusu Kada, a romantic drama directed by stylist-turned-filmmaker Neeraja Kona, stars Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Raashii Khanna, and Srinidhi Shetty. The film is produced by TG Vishwa Prasad and Krithi Prasad, with music by Thaman S. It is set to release on October 17.