Sai Dharam Tej praises Salaar and Shah Rukh Khan; says ‘cinema is winning’ in three-way battle involving Prabhas film, Dunki, Aquaman

Telugu actor Sai Dharam Tej penned a heartfelt post praising Salaar and Tollywood while extending congratulations to the respective teams behind Dunki, Salaar and Hollywood film Aquaman.

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Telugu actor Sai Dharam Tej, a member of the affluent Allu–Konidela family, penned a heartfelt post praising Salaar and Tollywood. (Images: Sai Dharam Tej, Hombale Films/Facebook)

Building on considerable anticipation, Prashanth Neel’s Prabhas-starrer Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire has finally arrived and officially locked horns with Rajkumar Hirani’s Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dunki. According to early reports, Salaar is poised to emerge as the winner in the biggest showdown of the year, earning triple the amount Dunki recorded on its opening day (Dec 21).

While Dunki debuted to around Rs 30 crore India nett on Thursday, Salaar has already earned nearly Rs 50 crore in advance sales for Day One and is likely to, according to industry tracker Sacnilk, achieve an opening day collection of Rs 95 crore domestically, surpassing even Atlee Kumar’s Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster Jawan’s first-day collection of Rs 75 crore – the highest this year until now.

Also read | ‘Is Salaar a remake of Ugramm?’: Prashanth Neel says he wanted to retell the story

Meanwhile, Telugu actor Sai Dharam Tej, a member of the affluent Allu–Konidela family and nephew to Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi, penned a heartfelt post praising Salaar and Tollywood while extending congratulations to the respective teams behind Dunki, Salaar and James Wan’s Hollywood film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom which too hit the screens on Friday.

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In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) under the caption “Cinema is winning,” Tej expressed, “It feels so proud and fantastic looking back at the long way Telugu cinema has come. With Salaar making our equal presence felt alongside the Hindi film Dunki and the Hollywood film Aquaman, it is definitely a marvellous feat that we were hoping to achieve very long back and it’s come to life this day.”

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“Three magnificent and beautiful industries are coming together on the same day to deliver us an immeasurable cinematic experience feels surreal. The borders are now even more blurred and collectively CINEMA IS STANDING TALL today. What a warm way to bid farewell to 2023,” he mentioned, adding “Thank you to everyone who envisioned and brought this moment to life.”

“What a comeback year you have delivered Shah Rukh Khan sir. Congratulations on hat-trick success with Dunki And to my dear Prabhas anna set the reels on fire. Best wishes to Aquaman,” he noted, concluding the statement with the remark, “CINEMA IS WINNING”.

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On Thursday, ahead of Salaar’s release, he had shared a poster of the film and wished the team good luck. “Telugu Cinema is already basking in all its glory in 2023 & I strongly wish #Salaar marks the pinnacle as the euphoria of it is so captivating. We’re shooting for the stars 🤗,” Tej noted.

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