'Happy Days' on Telugu screen

Hyderabad, Oct 17 (IANS) Director Sekhar Kammula's 'Happy Days', a simple story well told, is raking in the moolah at the box office. However, trade analysts feel Mahesh Babu's 'Athidhi' may beat it when it releases Oct 18.

The top five Telugu films are

1. 'Happy Days' - Director Sekhar Kammula's different sensibilities enables him to make simple, heart-warming stories with strong characterisations. Set in an engineering college, the film revolves around eight students tracing their lives during their course. The film is a big hit, not just in the state but also in the US where it was released Sep 28 much before its India release.

2. 'Thulasi' - Venkatesh returns to action with the stereotypical 'Thulasi', which has lots of commercial elements. Nayantara is paired with Venkatesh, whose earlier film 'Adavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule' was a big hit.

3. 'Chirutha' - Though the story isn't very good, Ramcharan Tej seems to have made a mark in the movie. The initial curiosity to see Ramcharan, megastar Chiranjeevi's son, translated into good money in the first two weeks. But once the initial euphoria died down, the film is doing average business. It may run for a few more days as it has the backing of director Puri Jagannath, a big name in the industry.

4. 'Yamadonga' - It was released quite some time back, but the film is still going strong. It seems to have 'clicked' despite the not-so-favourable reviews. Keeravani's songs are popular and they regularly feature in the chartbuster list.

5. 'Chandamama' - Krishnavamsi's movie, a simple entertainer set against a rural backdrop with not-so-big stars, appears to be going well with the audience. It's running in quite a few theatres.