Top producer Dil Raju had plans to announce 6-7 new projects this year that are done with the scriptwork. The announcements and shoots of these projects are pushed to next year. Ravi Teja’s next with Gopichand Malineni is kept on hold last minute. Varun Tej’s upcoming biggie Matka is postponed for now. Siddhu Jonnalagadda’s announced film from the production house of BVSN Prasad is now shelved. Several production houses are now worried after the recent cricis in Tollywood. The Hindi players stopped buying the Hindi rights (theatrical, satellite and YouTube) for Telugu films. This has been a major contribution for our filmmakers in the non-theatrical business.
The digital platforms too have slashed the digital rights and they have imposed new rules about the release dates as per their chart of digital releases. This is leaving the producers in a huge financial stress. With our actors not ready to compromise on their remunerations, the filmmakers are now reducing the stress by putting the films on hold. The recent signs are unpredictable and it is unclear when this crisis will vanish. Each production house is busy with multiple films and with the reduced success rate and no cash flow in the market, Tollywood producers are finding it tough to handle the situation.
The distributors too are not ready to shell out big money and acquire the rights on NRA basis. They are ready to pay minimum advances which means the loss burden will be on the producer. The theatrical deals of several Telugu films that are releasing in December are yet to be closed. Frankly speaking, the producers have lost control on the budgets and they are unable to negotiate on the remunerations. From the number of working days to the wastage on the sets, there is no control. This is a warning bell for Telugu producers to wake up and change their plans.
