Festival season releases have always been special for Tollywood, and box office clashes during Sankranti are nothing new. However, one battle that everyone remembers is Sankranti 2004. In that year, Megastar Chiranjeevi’s Anji and Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Lakshmi Narasimha came with huge expectations.
There was a huge buzz around the Anji for its cutting-edge graphics for the time, and the disappointing outcome for the film didn’t work out at the box office. Lakshmi Narasimha on the other hand was a success. In fact, it was Prabhas who stole the limelight in Varsham. The romantic action entertainer would be Prabhas’ first big hit, which solidified him as a bankable star and the beginning of stardom.
Cut to 2026, and a similar scenario seems to be on the cards. Chiranjeevi’s much-awaited Mana Shankara Varaprasad Garu is gearing up for release, while Prabhas has officially locked January 9 for his Pan-India film The Raja Saab. Adding to the buzz, Balakrishna’s Akhanda 2, which was postponed, is strongly rumored to join the Sankranti race as well.
If all three films indeed hit theaters around the same festive weekend, Sankranti 2026 could witness one of the biggest box office battles in recent times — reminiscent of the iconic 2004 clash. Fans are eagerly waiting to see who among Chiranjeevi, Prabhas, and Balakrishna will emerge with the season’s biggest blockbuster and who might fall behind.
