Rs 10 cr digital rights jackpot?

Buoyed by the pre-release hype, Amazon has reportedly bagged the digital rights of the much-awaited film ‘Rangasthalam,’ for Rs 10 crore, thus, setting a record of sorts. Starring hotshot Ram Charan in the never-before-seen role of a villager who has a hearing impairment, the period saga is set in the 1980s. 

Apart from the magic touch of creative director Sukumar, the film has Samantha in an equally challenging role, giving the film the much-needed fillip. “Definitely, `Rangasthalam’ is one of the crazy projects in recent times. The production house ‘Mythri Movies’ bargained hard and sold the digital rights for a fancy sum,” says a source, close to the unit. 

Earlier, the digital rights were included in TV satellite rights, but now , the Gen Y stars who also have production houses, separated the two and minted big money. 

“New-age stars like Ram Charan, Rana and Allu Arjun are familiar with rising popularity of digital platforms and pocketed amounts ranging between Rs 8 to 11 crore on the digital rights on each of their recent films and tilted the game in favour of the producer, away from Telugu satellite channels,” says a digital rights distributor who claims that Rana has an edge over his colleagues due to his pan-India appeal.