Gone are the days when the Producers dominated the Financiers and Distributors of Telugu cinema. With a lot of cash crunch and financial crisis in the market post-pandemic, the financiers are now ruling Tollywood. Most of the producers depend on finances to produce films. Some of the financiers have closed doors after the pandemic and there are few options left for the producers. Tollywood financiers are now imposing new rules that are turning a stress for the producers. There is no chance of borrowing full finance for the producers like in the past.
The financiers are now ready to lend only 50 percent of the budget for the makers depending on the lead actor and the director. If there is any risk, no financier is ready to lend money for the film. Even Pawan Kalyan’s Hari Hara Veera Mallu faced a bitter experience and the shoot got delayed due to the financial hurdles. The shoot will resume this month as all the hurdles got cleared. This alone says that big films too are not an exception for the financiers. They are not ready to shell out huge money and land themselves in trouble.
Tollywood distributors too are not ready for big bets. They are ready to pay and release the films on an advance basis and there would be no non-refundable advances in the coming future. Megastar Chiranjeevi’s God Father too released on an advance basis in most of the territories of Andhra Pradesh. The calculations of Tollywood changed post-pandemic and the entire risk falls on the film’s producer. All those who are producing multiple projects should be extra cautious and calculative considering the market, business and other financial factors.
