Corporate booking of heroes leave low-budget filmmakers jobless in Tollywood

As big banners are blocking the call sheets of all heroes, upcoming and medium-budget directors are forced to look for artists from the neighbouring industries.

ByY Sunita

Published Mar 07, 2023 | 5:00 PMUpdatedMar 07, 2023 | 5:00 PM

big banner block dates of telugu heroes

Big producers in the Telugu film industry are blocking the dates of heroes by paying advance amounts. This is taking a toll on small and medium-budget filmmakers.

And guess what? NRI producers seem to have been instrumental in creating a huge demand for heroes in Tollywood. As a result, actors who didn’t even deliver a hit are demanding ₹3-4 crores per project, of late!

Earlier, films were made by keeping budget estimates in mind; even the remunerations were paid based on the market rate of heroes. But not anymore.

Since most of the big and upcoming actors in Tollywood are not available anytime soon, small and mid-budget producers and directors are forced to rope in artists from neighbouring industries for their forthcoming projects.

Offering 3-5 film deals

The big banners in Tollywood have already blocked both stars and small heroes, well in advance, by offering them 3-5 film deals.

Currently, Mahesh Babu is working with Trivikram Srinivas and that will be followed by Rajamouli’s movie for producer KL Narayana.

Pawan Kalyan is busy with the remake of the Tamil movie Vinothaya Sitham. He also has Hari Hara Veera Mallu directed by Krish Jagarlamudi.

After Sukumar’s Pushpa: The Fire, Allu Arjun signed one with Arjun Reddy-fame director Sandeep Reddy.

NTR has Prashanth Neel’s movie after the Koratala Siva project.

Surprisingly, most of the big production houses are investing in small and medium-budget projects for some time now because of which the schedules of even small heroes are packed.

For example, Nithiin is currently busy with Vakkantham Vamsi’s film. His next is with director Venu Kudumula alongside Rashmika Mandanna.

Also Read: Director Santhosh Ananddram on launching Yuva Rajkumar

After Dasara, Nani will be pairing up with Mrunal Thakur for a movie to be directed by debutant Shouryuv. The actor has a few more projects in the pipeline.

Even little-known faces like Naresh Agastya, Karthik Gummakonda, and Kiran Abbavaram have their hands full for the next couple of years.

For instance, Kiran Abbavaram is doing Meter under the Mythri Movie Makers banner. His next is Rules Ranjann produced by Star Light Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

Big banners hijack small films

For instance, producer Bhogavalli Prasad is bankrolling both big and small films. He usually flaunts the big-budget movie that is on the anvil and sells his low-budget project to the OTT platforms.

Buyers/distributors usually purchase the small films as a package fearing that the producer won’t sell them the big projects. As a result, the small heroes think that they have demand in the market.

Sithara Entertainments, too, is making big and small films. Dhanush’s Sir (which was released in the Telugu states by the banner) is touted to be an average movie.

Dhanush, unlike Karthi and Suriya, doesn’t enjoy a great following in the twin Telugu states. And hence, Sir (Vaathi in Tamil) reportedly made an average business here. The film (all versions) grossed ₹100 crores worldwide though.

Kiran Abbavaram’s latest release, Vinaro Bhagyamu Vishnu Katha, has been bankrolled by GA2 Pictures owned by Allu Aravind’s Geetha Arts banner. The movie reportedly grossed ₹5.2 crores worldwide.

However, equations do change because of the recovery from the side business that happens through satellite and digital rights.

Moreover, if success means recovery of money through theatrical releases alone, for an artist like Dhanush, the business should be far better than what Sir (the Telugu version alone) has grossed.

But then, in most cases, theatre collections are not transparent. The production house terms their film safe only after calculating the collections garnered through several routes like those mentioned above.

Small directors in a fix

Directors who delivered huge hits are waiting for years to direct their next with a hero of stature.

For instance, filmmaker Buchi Babu Sana, even two years after the release of Visshnav Tej and Krithi Shetty’s Uppena, is still waiting for a hero to allot dates.

In the case of director Harish Shankar, nothing has moved from his front since the release of Varun Tej-starrer Gaddalakonda Ganesh (2019). Indeed, the filmmaker has been waiting for Pawan Kalyan’s dates for the past three-four years to begin his commercial film titled Usthad Bhagath Singh but in vain.

screenwriter gopi mohan

Screenwriter Gopi Mohan. (pgopimohan/Instagram)

Meanwhile, because of this inordinate delay, the craze for directors is declining. Screenwriter Gopi Mohar too concurs. When asked when he would direct his debut, Gopi Mohan revealed that he is not willing to take a risk.

“My story for a multi-starrer project is ready but I have been waiting for the dates of a few heroes. Since they are all busy, either I have to rope in newcomers or someone who has faded out which I can’t do!”

The producers are in queue waiting for the hero’s appointment and willing to pay the price quoted. The emphasis is on the combination and not on the story.

Also Read: Anicka Vikhraman calls out her abusive boyfriend

In some cases, having taken advances from big banners, other successful directors also find themselves locked.

Director Parusuram was in the news a month ago for coming out of the Geeta Arts banner which produced his Geetha Govindam. He was reportedly booked in advance by the production house for a sequel to Geetha Govindam.

Since the project was not taking off, the filmmaker announced his next movie with Vijay Deverakonda under Dil Raju’s Sri Venkateswara Productions as he was promised a hefty remuneration.

Producer Allu Aravind of Geetha Arts got upset with the development and decided to hold a press meet which, however, was cancelled.

The Geetha Arts banner was the distributor of actor Suhas’ recent hit Writer Padmabhushan, which was produced by Chai Bisket Films with a budget of ₹4 crores.

Heroes deciding terms!

In Tollywood, it is no more about who writes the story but about controlling the project. Nowadays, heroes are deciding the terms and are suggesting the cast and crew.

Meanwhile, the producers are not accommodating newcomers. They have their own team of directors and co-directors waiting for their stories to be given a green light.

Also Read: Lavanya Tripathi is still going strong after a decade-long career

For instance, the PVP has not announced any big project so far due to a lack of commercial viability.

With no heroes available immediately, a few directors are writing women-centric stories. Since not all female actors can pull the crowds to theatres, the filmmakers are safely doing business by going for digital releases.

Be it Trisha, Regina, or Lavanya Tripathi, they are ruling the OTT space now. Cheers to that!