MCA aka Middle Class Abbayi Vs Hello: Will Akhil Akkineni win the battle against Nani at box office?

MCA aka Middle Class Abbayi starring Nani and Sai Pallavi will release on December 21, while Hello starring Akhil Akkineni and Kalyani Priyadarshan will hit the screens a day later. 

Genre, Cast and Crew:

Venu Sri Ram directorial MCA aka Middle Class Abbayi is a romantic comedy with a good dose of action. Nani and Sai Pallavi are the lead pair and Bhumika Chawla, Naresh, Aamani, Rajeev Kanakala and Priyadarshi Pullikonda will be seen in important roles. Devi Sri Prasad has composed music for it.

Hello is a romantic action thriller written and directed by Vikram K Kumar, who has delivered a hit in the form of Manam earlier. Akhil Akkineni and Kalyani Priyadarshan are playing the lead roles, while Jagapati Babu, Ramya Krishna and Ajay as Rishi will appear in the supporting cast. Anup Rubens has scored music for the film.

Production and Promotion:

Dil Raju, who is the most successful producer with five hits to his credit in 2017, has bankrolled MCA aka Middle Class Abbayi under his banner Sri Venkateswara Creations. He has reportedly spent around Rs 20 crore on its making and publicity. Its theatrical rights have been sold for whopping Rs 20 crore. The maker has made sure that the movie has a good promotion before its release.

Nagarjuna Akkineni has produced the movie Hello under his banner Annapurna Studios. In a bid to give big break to his son Akhil Akkineni, he shelled out around Rs 35 crore on its production and promotion.

The producer has adapted several unique publicity strategies for the movie. He brought Baahubali actor Rana Daggubati on board to promote it in the USA. Ram Charan and Chiranjeevi are set to draw attention for the film by attending its pre-release function today. The film has a decent promotion.

Online promotion:

The makers of both the movies have promoted their respective flicks heavily on the social media and both have got a good response from the audience. But the response for MCA aka Middle Class Abbayi is bigger than that of Hello.

The songs, teaser trailer, lyrical and music videos of Hello were released on YouTube channels of Annapurna Studios and Aditya Music. They have together got approximately over 25 million views.

The songs, teaser trailer, lyrical and music videos of MCA aka Middle Class Abbayi were released on YouTube channels of Dil Raju and Aditya Music. They have together received over 30 million views.

Volume of release

As per the ads in newspapers and websites, MCA will release in 625 screens in the Telugu states, over 100 screens in Karnataka and other parts of India and 175 screens in US, UK and other international markets on December 21. The film has large number of shows per day in Nizam, where it hits nearly 250 screens.

On the other hand, Hello will release in 400 screens in the Telugu states, over 100 screens in Karnataka and other parts of India and nearly 200 screens in US, UK and other foreign countries on December 21. Its total screen count is expected to be over 700.

Box Office Prediction:

MCA aka Middle Class Abbayi is a notch bigger than Hello in terms of star power, screen count and hype and response for promos. It will definitely get a bigger opening, but the word of mouth will decide its success or failure at the box office. Hello is also likely to get a good opening, but it should be seen whether it would make bigger collection than the Nani starrer.