For those who like to ask what’s there in a title, the answer could be “lots of money”. Consider this. Simha, a Telugu film featuring ageing star Nandhamuri Balakrishna – ‘Balayya’ to his fans – and a string of female stars including Nayanthara, Namitha and Sneha Ullal, hit the screens early this summer across Andhra Pradesh and Telugu-speaking markets across the globe.

Singam, a Tamil film featuring Surya and Anushka, a former Mumbai-based yoga trainer turned film star, released across Tamil Nadu and Tamil-speaking markets across the world in late summer this year.

Both Simha and Singam mean lion in the respective regional language. Interestingly, both films turned out to be the biggest blockbusters among films released so far in 2010 in Telugu and Tamil. Both films crossed 50 days across several centres in the respective markets.

Simha, released in April this year, has turned out to be the biggest grosser for actor Balakrishna, who has been searching for an elusive hit for over five years now. He had some big Telugu hits like Lakshmi Narasimha and Samarasimha Reddy to his credit in the past.

The film is said to have grossed around Rs 40 crore at the box office. Even if one one were to take into account that collection figures are often bloated, even his competing camps accept in silence that it is the biggest grosser of the year so far and would have collected upwards of Rs 30 crore.

“Simha was a clean entertainer with a good screenplay that had ample twists and turns, especially in the second half. As a result, it appealed to audiences across all age groups and helped Balakrishna resurrect his fading career,” a veteran Telugu film distributor from the Nizam region said on condition of anonymity, not wanting to attract unwanted attention from competing camps.

In the case of Singam, released by Sun Pictures, it has already been adjudged the biggest Tamil grosser of 2010. The first week’s box office collection was touted to be over Rs 50 crore. It also erased any negativity over Sun’s earlier two releases with actor Vijay – Vettaikaran and Sura.

“A racy screenplay and a splendid performance from Surya helped the film attract audiences in large droves to the theatres. The same script would not have turned out to be such a big hit had it been done by any other star,” an industry observer said.

“Even though Singam was released in the latter part of the summer, the screenplay and performance helped attract family audiences. It has collected over Rs 90 lakh from our multiplex alone,” said Meenakshi Sundaram, manager, Mayajaal, a multiplex in sub-

urban Chennai.