Hyderabad : The Television Premier of Telugu block buster feature film “Manam” which was aired between 5:30PM to 9:15PM on 3rd October during the festival occasion of Dussera has paid a rich dividends to the channel by delivering a record breaking TVR of 18.43 in Fe15+ABC and 15.62 MF4+ making it as top rated program of the week 40 (Sep 28 to Oct 4th)that was filled with holidays for Gandhi jayanthi, Dussera and Navarathi Pooja festival.
Manam’s premier managed to stand as a tall no. 1 in the week with no No.2 in the vicinity as it look like the competitors had given up their fight, as a mark of respect to the legendary actor Akkineni Nageswar Rao, as Manam falls to be last movie acted by actor before his demise at his nineties.
Telugu film Yevadu aired on Maa TV on 28th September (Sunday evening) has delivered 9.85 and 9.19 in Fe15+ABC and MF4+ respectively, which is 50% less than that of “Manam”, stood at No.2 in Movie category. Market sources states that Gemini TV has acquired the satellite rights of the movie for Rs 8 Cr.
Manam is a 2014 Telugu drama film directed by Vikram Kumar. It stars Nageswara Rao, Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanyaalong with Shriya Saran and Samantha. Several personalities including Nagarjuna’s younger son Akkineni Akhil and his wife Akkineni Amala and Hindi actor Amitabh Bachchan made cameo appearances.
The film is partly a period drama, focusing on various time periods between the 1920s to the 2013, and deals with the concepts of rebirth and “eternal love”. It is about a wealthy businessman Nageswara Rao’s attempts to bring a young couple Nagarjuna and Priya together who resemble his deceased parents Radha Mohan and Krishnaveni and an old man Chaitanya’s attempts to bring Nageswara Rao and a doctor Anjali together who resemble his deceased parents Seetharamudu and Ramalakshmi. Akkineni Nageswara Rao played a 90 year old man true to his age.
Manam was the last film of Nageswara Rao who died during the production phase of the film in January 2014 and has been stated as a “befitting send off” and a tribute by his son Nagarjuna to him. The film released worldwide on May 23, 2014 in theaters. Upon release, the film was critically acclaimed and became a blockbuster. Manam was released in 1500 Screens worldwide and 350 Screens Overseas.
While Gemini TV managed to score high on this movie, it has a very sorry face on the Fiction front as the channel once regarded as very strong in fiction content is struggling to make a mark with no sign of improvement.
