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Box Office: Analyzing the contrasting collections of Siddhu Jonnalagadda's movies Tillu Square and Jack
From Rs 135 crore with Tillu Square to under Rs 9 crore with Jack, Siddhu Jonnalagadda’s box office journey takes a sharp dip. What went wrong after the DJ Tillu high?
Siddhu Jonnalagadda, who started his career in 2009 with a small role in Josh starring Naga Chaitanya, acted in many films over the years but struggled to get a proper hit after he became a main lead in Telugu cinema. With DJ Tillu and Tillu Square, he became that promising star who could trigger the Box Office just like that, but his latest debacle, Jack, simply proved everyone wrong. Have a look at the contrasting collections and why it happened.
The first major success came for Siddhu in 2022 with the film DJ Tillu, a romantic crime comedy directed by Vimal Krishna and bankrolled by Sithara Entertainment. Despite coming up with no hype and expectations, the film became a turning point in his career. Originally titled Narudi Brathuku Natana, the film stood out for Siddhu’s character DJ Tillu, a fun-loving, overconfident local DJ with Telangana slang and quirky dialogues. His body language, humor, and energy entertained audiences. S. Thaman’s background score also boosted the vibe of the film.
Even though the story was simple, Siddhu’s performance made DJ Tillu and its sequel, Tillu Square, a hit with the audience. Though Tillu Square received mixed reviews from critics as they pointed out that the comedy had misogynistic tones, especially in the second half, fans defended the film, saying it was a fun ride and not meant to be taken seriously. While the sequel was too similar to the first part and lacked a fresh story, Siddhu’s comic timing, swag, and screen presence were the main reasons the film worked. Despite criticism about sidelining characters like Radhika and having filler scenes, Tillu Square collected Rs 135 crore gross worldwide.
On the other hand, Siddhu’s next film, Jack, didn’t perform well. The shoot was delayed from April to May 2024 due to promotions of Tillu Square and the lead actress Vaishnavi Chaitanya’s schedule. The film was finally released on April 10, 2025. But Jack flopped badly. The story and execution didn’t click with the audience. Word-of-mouth was also negative. In five days, it managed to collect only around Rs 8.5–9 crore worldwide. Comparisons with Tillu Square hurt it further. Though the audience is expecting comedy from Siddhu, surely they weren't expecting him to do it in the role of an RAA agent who goes all out for the sake of the country.
Clearly, while Tillu Square continued the DJ Tillu magic and survived, Jack missed the narrative badly and lost sheen at the box office in no time.
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