A risky proposition in TS, AP ?

With Megastar Chiranjeevi's upcoming magnum opus 'Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy,' also being traded for more than Rs 100 crore in the two Telugu states, the stakes on Telugu films are soaring high, while distributors and exhibitors are hoping to recover their money riding on sensational openings and hike in ticket rates.

Earlier, Prabhas expanded his market in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with 'Saaho' by selling his movie for more than Rs 120 crore and changed the game of Telugu cinema.

"On one hand it is good that the market of Telugu cinema is expanding, on the other the risk of recovering these huge investments is becoming a daunting task.

Distributors of a recent movie, which rode high on hype, lacking in content, are expected to lose 30% of their money and it is a colossal flop," says distributor Ajay.

According to another distributor, Meesala Srinivas, "In the past budgets of the legendary actors NTR and Krishna were accordance with the script, but now, it is the other way round.

Now-a-days, a whopping budget is fixed (to enhance the market of a superstar) and then the script work is done to spend that money, which is bound to backfire sometime or other.

Always, content should determine the budget and not vice versa. Once the budget hits the roof, the producers are selling their movies for more than Rs 100 crore and the burden is transferred on to distributors and exhibitors, who in turn are fleecing the gullible viewers with exorbitant tickets rates and looting them."

Actually, films of superstars like Mahesh Babu are sold for more than Rs 70 crore in TS, AP, followed by Jr NTR and Ram Charan which are pegged around Rs 65 crore each, but now the producers of their upcoming movies will also try to spike the figures and push the industry into the brink.

"Distributors and exhibitors have to cough up more in the days to come since producers have to show big figures to their respective stars and how they superseded their arch-rivals in terms of business.

So, this Rs 100 crore-plus mania in twin Telugu states, is going to turn serious and bound to become unmanageable, if stars fail to deliver hits," he adds.

No doubt, T-town superstars are believing that the unprecedented success of `Bahubali' franchise has opened up the markets and showed the true potential of a Telugu film since the 'Bahubali 2' made Rs 196 crore net collections in the two Telugu states.

"Every film cannot be 'Bahubali' and it is an exception of sorts. No doubt, Rajamoulis's next film 'RRR' will also be priced very high, so the game has just begun," concludes distributor Suresh.