06:00 pm: 16th January 2004

Proper RR makes climax perfect
When the prints were dispatched for release in a hurry, there was a technical glitch in the form of mistimed rerecording (RR) while transferring it into DTS discs. That problem is immediately taken care of. And all the theaters playing Anji now have got everything set right in the last 3 reels. Even the 'Pachi mirchi bujji' song sounds terrific and is a treat now for crowds. With this problem taken care of, the film Anji is laughing its way to box office in a great style.

02:20 pm: 16th January 2004

It's a 'black ticket' week for Anji
Most of the regular movie goers are spending hefty amounts starting from Rs. 150 in A centers & Rs. 50 in C centers and this 'black ticket mania' is guaranteed to continue uninterrupted till Sunday because all the shows were sold out till whatever the date they opened advance booking for in all most all centers.

Anji starts victory lap
Chiranjeevi's Anji started its victory run with great openings all over. Here are the records Anji created on the day one. The collection reports are amazing. The crowds are going frenzy over procuring tickets for themselves

1. Cudappah: The first show of Cudappah was started at 4 pm on 15th. And it had 13 shows in day 1 in Ramesh (4 shows), Ravi (4 shows), Lakshmi Ranga (3 shows) and Annayya (2 shows). And it collected 4.91 lacks on 15th January itself. The flat rate per ticket is Rs. 100/-. The number of shows schedules for 16th January are 16\8 shows and the expected collection is around 4 lakhs.
2. Bellary: The shows at Bellary started 2 am (early morning hours of 16th January 2004). This film is being exhibited in Siva, Ganga, Nataraj & SRR. 8 shows are over by no. The collections in this center are amazing.
3. Addanki: Four shows are over so far in Addanki center. And it collected around one lakh in these four shows itself. The tickets are being sold at a flat rate of Rs. 50.
4. Narsaraopet: In Narsaraopet, five shows are expected to be screened today at Eeswar Mahal. 2 shows are over by now and total expected collection on day one is 1.5 lakhs

01:10 pm: 15th January 2004

All shows cancelled in Guntur Area
All shows in Gunur Area are cancelled due to the pressure from Ceded distributor. The ceded distributor was supposed to pay 30 Lakhs but he asked the producer to adjust it against the interest for the amount that he had paid six years back. The producer has told him that he will release the prints only if the amount is paid. .So the ceded distributor paid the 30 lakhs but he has asked for 60 instead of the 46 prints that he had ordered earlier. Though the Guntur Distributor(Yarlagadda Ramulu) declared that the show would start at 3 PM on 15th, the producers team convinced Yarlagadda Ramulu of Guntur area to screen all the shows tomorrow(16th) instead of 15th as there is a shortage of prints. So Yarlagadda Ramulu being a nice person, postponed the release of Anji by a day in Guntur Area.

01:00 pm: 15th January 2004

Interval just happened in Vijayawada and the report is positive.

Stay tuned to idlebrain.com for more live updates.

12:30 pm: 15th January 2004

Shows started in Nellore, Tirupati and Hyderabad
Anji's first show has started in Hyderabad at the stipulated time.In Nellore it is being released in 5 theatres viz, Archana, Madhav, Padmavathi and Kalyani. The show started at around 12:15 in Nellore. There are huge crowds at Archana and police had done lati charge to disperse the fans ;and looks like there is going to be some problem at Archana theatre.

8:30 am: 15th January 2004

Ceded release on 16th Jan
Anji is going to release in Andhra and Nizam on 15th Jan. It would be releasing in Ceded on 16th Jan. This decision is taken in the last minute as the labs could not print the required number of prints in time.

7:20 am: 15th January 2004

Regular shows of Anji
Anji film is releasing with regular shows in most of the places. There would not be any benefit or fan show before 10 am. It is learnt that the prints started from Prasad labs to Andhra area by 4 am.

Anji business in centain centers
Markapur - 5.5 Lakhs MG
Giddalur - 3.7 Lakhs MG
Kodumur - 2.4 Lakhs MG
Gutthi - 3.25 Lakhs MG + 25,000 advance
Kurnool - 24 Lakhs MG + 8 Lakhs advance
Gorantla - 6 Lakhs MG
Macherla - 5 Lakhs Share Guarantee
Guntakal - 4 Lakhs Advance
Adoni - 8 Lakhs MG
Peeleru - 6 Lakhs Advance
Nandyal - 16 Lakhs MG
Hospet - 2 Lakhs Advance
Cheerala - 11.9 Lakhs Share Gurantee (2.34 1st day hire)
Chilakaluripeta - 10.08 Lakhs Share Gurantee
Guntur Venkatrama - 3 Lakhs Share Gurantee

1 am: 15th January 2004 - The process of releasing magnum opus ANJI

1st & 14th reel from Hongkong on 13th Morning
The 1st & 14th reel of Anji film - loaded with terrific visual effects - arrived in Hyderabad from Hongkong on the morning of 13th January 2004. Till that time, there was an iota of doubt about release on 15th. Once that reel came, there was no stopping.

Financial matters settled at 4 pm on 14th January
The financial matters about Anji were settled by Shyam Prasad Reddy, Chiranjeevi and Allu Arvind to the financiers at 4 pm. Lab clearance letter was given. Then the printing of Anji was started. Reels were shared among all the three film laboratories in Hyderabad - Ramoji Film City, Prasad Labs & Rama Naidu Labs.

DTS Disc arrives at 12 midnight
The DTS Disc was arrived an hour ago from Chennai to Hyderabad. These DTS Discs would be added to prints once the printing is over. The prints which are going to be released on 15th January are going to be around 200.

Complete 1st print at 1:30 am
The completed 1st print would be assembled by organizing various reels collected from 3 laboratories in proper order. The front print is expected at 1:30 am on 15th January.

First time Air Corgo shipping to Vizag
Mohini Films - the distributors of Vizag - has booked a private air cargo to ship prints from Hyderabad to Vizag. Its happening for the first time in the history of Telugu cinema. To ship prints by private air cargo. This cargo is hired at Rs. 47,000/- per hour. It would take around 3 and half hours for to and fro journey between Hyderabad-Vizag. The distributor is going to spend 1.64 lakhs for air-lifting.

Anji release only in good theaters
Producer Shyam Prasad Reddy has given strict instructions to the distributors to release Anji in theaters that are equipped with the best sound systems. He cautioned exhibitors not to look for quick money by releasing in theaters offering poor quality.

Ceded Distributor confidence
Ceded distributor is so much confident about Anji film that he is releasing Anji in all centers on MG (Minimum Guarantee) basis. He has not sold Anji for any center on outright basis. The only exception is Guntakal center.

Vehicles lined up at labs
The exhibitors are eagerly waiting at Prasad Labs to get their print so that they reach their center as soon as possible. There is one such vehicle that is ready to take 4 prints for Macherla, Vinukonda, Addanki and Ongole

14th January 2004

Anji on15th January 2004 and 16th January 2004
Anji film is all set for release on 15th January in some areas and 16th January in some areas as reported by Deccan Chronicle. This might be due to delay in getting the prints ready.

13th January 2004

Anji on15th January 2004
Anji film is all set for 15th January release as per the latest news. The prints are being done at 3 different labs on war-footing basis. The prints of Anji are being done only after completing the prints of Lakshmi Narasimha (Prasad Labs) and Varsham (Rama Naidu Labs). The other lab that is printing Anji film is Ramoji Film City. If things does not workout, a few prints would be released on 15th January and rest of them would be shipped on 16th January. Producer Shyam wants to have a perfect print in hand before letting it out to the theaters.

8th January 2004

Anji postponed to 15th January 2004
The telugu movie lovers who saw today's paper were in dilemma. In Vaartha, the Anji release date is published as 14th Jan and in Andhrajyoti, the date is published as 15th Jan. When we enquired with the official sources, it is revealed that 15th Jan is the correct date. This decision to change from 14th to 15th was taken in the late night of 7th Jan. By the time they informed the same to news papers, Vaartha was already published all editions. Andhrajyoti published 50,000 editions by that time. They stopped printing and did the modification from 14th to 15th. So the official release date of Anji is 15th January 2004.

7th January 2004

Anji postponed to 14th January 2004
The sources of MS Arts confirmed to idlebrain.com that the release date of Anji is postponed to 14th January as the final graphics bits are getting delayed by a couple of days. The producer did not want to rush the things in the last minute. Anji is going to release on 14th January 2004 as Sankranthi festival gift to Telugu film lovers.

6th January 2004

Lucky 9 films of Chiru
Its lucky 9 for Chiru for 9 occasions in his career. The 9 super hit Chiranjeevi films that were released on 9th are Manavuri pandavulu (09/11/78), Challenge (09/08/84), Donga Mogudu (09/01/87), Kondaveeti Donga (09/03/90), Kodama Simham (09/08/90), Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari (09/05/90), Gang leader (09/05/91), Gharana Mogudu (09/04/92) and Bavagaru Bagunnara (09/04/98). And now Anji is all set join this elite list when it releases on 9th January 2004.

2:38 hrs duration for Anji
Our idlebrain.com sources reveal that the duration of Chiranjeevi's Anji film is 2:38 minutes as per the final copy. A special song would be added five weeks after the release of film. It's a reasonably good length for a film that took 6 years to make.

left hand horse riding
The people who saw few episodes of Chiranjeevi's Anji are raving about it. One of certain scenes is horse riding episode where Chiranjeevi rides the horse with left hand in jungles. The greenery around and dust that raises on the path coupled with great DTS missing effect is expected to be a treat for the fans.

5th January 2004

303 print release
Chiranjeevi's Anji is releasing with the highest number of prints. As per today's news, the confirmed number for Anji's prints is 303. The number is likely to increase as the release date - 9th January 2004 - approaches. However, the prints number is decreasing compared to Tagore in Nellore, Guntur and Krishna areas.

Censoring on 7th Jan
Speaking to idlebrain.com, producer Shyam Prasad Reddy said that Anji is going for censoring on 7th of January and the release is going to happen on 9th Jan at any cost. Shyam Prasad Reddy is currently in Mumbai, supervising the ultimate mixing of visual effects.

First Telugu film in IMAX theater
Anji would be the first Telugu film to be screened in an IMAX theater. This special show is being arranged in Chicago, IL on 10th January 2004 at 10:30 pm. KAD USA - the distributors of USA - gets this credit.

Theaters of Anji
For all those Chiranjeevi fans who are awaiting for the list of theaters - here is a limited information.

Distributor of Anji

Anji business details
Though the producer is tighty lipped about the prerelease business details of Anji, the rumors mills has it that Anji is sold for an amount of 4.41 crores (which totals to 9 - a lucky number) in Ceded area. This is bought by Hari Kumar - who produced 'Subbu Film'. The Nellore rights are grabbed by Subba Reddy (who is considered as the lucky hand among the distribution circles) and Sagar Seenayya jointly.