Producers On Verge Of Bankruptcy

A heap of flops has made some T-town film-makers bankrupt in the last three months. Producers have lost almost Rs 80 crore on approximately 17 big-ticket films including Param Veera Chakra, Teen Maar, Shakti, Nenu Na Rakshasi, and Wanted.

The sad situation is that, while some producers have had to sell their homes to refund the “recoverable advances” to distributors and exhibitors, their stars and directors are building their own palatial houses. “A leading producer sold his house for Rs 13 crore to refund the losses, whereas the star and the director of the same flop film, built houses during the making of the film. That’s the plight of T-town producers,” rues one producer.

M.S. Raju, who has made big films like Okkadu and Varsham says, “Some amateur and inexperienced producers have disturbed the economics of film-making by paying very large sums to stars and directors. This has ruined the industry.”

Unable to pay back the huge losses, one big producer, who made films with superstars, has gone underground to avoid refunding Rs 15 crore to buyers and exhibitors.

“He has switched off his mobile and is not available in office, but we’ll make him refund the money. We have extracted money from such producers before, so we’ll not spare him,” says a leading distributor from Vizag, who reveals that a couple of Telugu directors own swanky theatres in Visakhapatnam.

According to industry sources, the budgets have gone overboard due to the hefty pay packets of stars and directors. Reigning stars get Rs 8 crore to Rs 10 crore per film, while top directors get between Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore and heroines go for Rs 1 crore and above.

Even cinematographers and music composers have upped the ante by asking for Rs 80 lakh per film. “Stars and directors need to cut down on their exorbitant pay packets as the budgets have gone haywire and many producers are losing heavily on star-studded movies,” says producer Aditya Ram, who burnt his hands with Ek Niranjan.

Director Teja blames the flops on repetitive content and feels that Telugu cinema can bounce back, especially if film-makers begin to think out of the box. Along with the astronomical fees of the stars, and poor content, there is also the problem of spiralling costs.

A leading producer, explains, “Some leading directors entertain producers until they get their pay cheques but after that the producer forfeits the right to seek an explanation for the spiralling budget. He has to silently supply the money, but is kept in the dark about expenditures. Summing up the bleak scenario, producer Lagadapati Sridhar says, “Film-making business is hardly a viable proposition nowadays.”

Source: deccanhttp://video.fulltollywood.com