The digital market has spoiled the perspective and calculations of Telugu producers. Post pandemic, the digital players started shelling out big money for the digital rights of the films. But with the number of films in production are increasing every year, it is quite tough for the digital players to focus on all the films. They are choosy, selective and are picking up marketable films or those featuring stars.

Several producers who are producing films with non-stars on low budgets are struggling. The digital players are not much interested in acquiring the rights of these films as they are not in demand. They are also shelling out crores to purchase the films featuring stars. The digital players have also formed strong teams to conduct a scrutiny and pick up small-budget films and stream them on a pay-per-view basis. They are considering the quality of the product, theatrical release and other factors.

Several producers of small budget films have no budgets to promote their films. The distributors too are demanding the producers to spend on the digital expenses and the publicity as most of the films are turned down by the audience. Close to 300 films made on small budgets in Telugu cinema are currently in a struggling phase. All these are started believing that the digital players will buy the streaming rights so that they can recover a part of the budget. The satellite market for such films is completely zero and there are no takers. This is a huge mess in Telugu cinema currently.