Careers of five top heroes including Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Jr NTR, Ravi Teja, Mahesh Babu and Pavan Kalyan and an estimated Rs 150 crore is at stake because of the ongoing political crisis in the state.In just 20 days since the T-issue rocked the state with all its force, the Telugu film industry suffered an estimated loss of Rs 35-40 crore as audiences dwindled in theatres.
Some producers who took stock of the developing situation in various regions of the state on Thursday said it was felt that releasing new movies at this juncture would only mean more losses.
“No formal decision has been taken yet to not to release films. But every producer is very well aware that the situation is not conducive. It just does not make business sense,” Telugu Film Producers Council (TFPC) president M Shyam Prasad Reddy told TOI on Thursday.
“Mohan Babu had miscalcuted the problem and paid the price. After TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao broke his fast, Mohan Babu went ahead and released `Saleem’ after putting it off for a day. With trouble breaking out in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, the movie, starring his son, went for a toss. It could not even get released in Anantapur.”
Movies lined up for this month and those expected to be ready for release soon include NTR Jr-starrer `Adhurs’, Shekar Kammula directed `Leader’ introducing D Rama Naidu’s grandson Rana as hero, `KD’ starring Nagarjuna, `Shambo Shiva Shambo’ starring Ravi Teja and `Namo Venkatesa’ starring Venkatesh. In addition, Mahesh Babu’s film and Pavan Kalyan’s film are also in the making.All of them are big stars and the budget of each film with one of these as heroes could anywhere be between Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore.
“Even if the situation improves, there would still be problem for these films and there would be a mad scramble to release them. Usually producers, come to an understanding, and leave a gap of at least a week for new film releases. This so that each film gets its full collection. Since delaying a release would mean that the producer will have to cough up huge amount as interest, they would not like to wait to release it if the situation eases. The clash then, would inevitably, hurt some of them badly.
According to TFPC president Shyam Prasad Reddy, in most theatres across the state there are hardly one or two shows running because of the turmoil now. The executive committee of the TFPC is slated to meet on December 21 to take stock of the situation.
No one can stop pawan kalyan movies.