Tollywood Crisis Explained: Ram Charan's Peddi In The Centre Of Telugu Producers Vs Theatres Owners Standoff

A silent crisis is brewing in the Telugu Film Industry. While the big stars and celebrity directors are busy with online promotions and are keeping up with public appearances, the producers and exhibitors are at a standstill. Single-screen theatres, sparse releases of pan-India projects, inflated star budgets and OTT release windows are at the centre of the crisis. Ram Charan's Peddi, scheduled to release on June 5, is on the receiving end of the ugly war.

What's happening in the Telugu Film Industry? 

While all seems to be okay on the surface level, the Telugu film producers have been frequenting the film chamber of commerce for several rounds of mediation. The deadlock reached the South Indian Film Producer Council as well, with no solution in sight. The crisis, which is fueled by egos more than issues, has deepened the divide between exhibitors and producers.

The issue stems from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana single-screen theatres demanding a percentage-based split in Telugu movies. Single-screen theatres are in the eye of the storm and are alleging that with the operational costs increasing, it has become difficult to sustain the infrastructure with the existing fixed rental model. They are now demanding a percentage-based sharing system.

Currently, the exhibitors pay a pre-decided amount as rent to the film's producer upon the movie's release. The amount remained fixed, irrespective of the project's box office result. This leads to the theatre owners losing money in case a movie performs below average. In the new model, the exhibitors are demanding that the ticket prices be split up in a pre-decided manner between them and the producers. They have proposed to keep 60% from ticket sales in the first week of a film's release, 50% in the second week and 40% from the third week onwards.

What are the producers saying? 

There are several production houses like Geetha Arts, Sri Venkateswara Creations, Suresh Productions and Allu Cinemas, which have agreed to the revenue-sharing model. However, other bigwigs like Myrhti Movie Makers and Sithara Entertainment are yet to budge. At the heart of the issue, all producers have agreed to the revenue-sharing, but with conditions. The most important condition is that the new business model should be applied to the new movies about to go on floors and not the 60 Telugu films already in production. The theatre owners are insisting that the changes be implemented immediately.

Peddi- the bargaining chip 

The biggest negotiation factor with the theatre owners currently is Ram Charan's Peddi. The first big release in the upcoming days is highly anticipated. Despite the buzz, single-screen owners have threatened to boycott the movie. This means a big loss to all Cineplexes in the Telangana and Hyderabad region, as well as a massive blow to the film's potential box office. In a self-sabotaging move, the owners of single-screen theatres have threatened to hold the release of Peddi until the makers agree to a profit-sharing model.

Star remunerations, scarce releases, shrinking OTT window and other problems that plague Tollywood

The screen crisis of Tollywood has exposed a bigger problem in the film industry. In the post-COVID era, big stars and directors have moved to make pan-India projects, touted on big budgets, which pose multiple problems. These projects take longer to complete (three years gap between Pushpa movies, no Mahesh Babu movie in 3 years, Prabhas movies delayed endlessly, Allu Arjun taking a long gap between films, etc.). Hence, there is no significant release to sustain theatre in the meantime. Mid-budget stars like Vijay Deverakonda and Nani have also started taking long gaps in movies, leaving big screens dry most of the year.

Additionally, the big budget of the movies comes mostly from the star salaries. Lead actors and directors draw hefty paychecks for pan-Indian releases, increasing the budget of the movies, which in turn increases the movie ticket prices. With additional costs like refreshments, parking and other miscellaneous expenses, a trip to the cinema has become unaffordable for the regular middle class.

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Lastly, it has become common knowledge that there is a 4-week gap between a film's theatrical release and its OTT debut. This helps cinegoers wait until the movie arrives on streamers so that they can watch it in the comfort of their home. This further decreases footfall to cinemas.

All these factors have contributed to the perceived ‘death of theatre’ in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, leaving producers and exhibitors fighting for the survival of single-screen cinemas. 

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