Telugu stars oppose OTT outings, producers to cough up huge interests?

Leading Telugu stars and actresses have to learn a lesson or two from B-town and Tamil stars. Instead of opposing OTT releases, they should help their producers to recover their investment by giving their movies to digital premiers, otherwise producers have to bear mounting interests cost.

"In this crisis situation, producers can't wait for theatres to open. They have to cough up huge interest for their borrowings and could end up with loses, even if they release their movies in theatres after some time.

Better, big stars and actresses give their nod for digital outings and save producers from big mess," says a leading producer, who feels that even market will not be able to give them full returns.

"With theatres set to run with 50% seating capacity due to corona menace, exhibitors and distributors will not be able to pay full amount.

For instance, an exhibitor or distributor would pay Rs 5 crore instead of usual Rs 10 crore for Nizam region for a film. In other words, a big film to be sold for Rs 40 crore in twin Telugu states could only fetch Rs 20 crore advance now, leaving digital screenings as win-win option to recover investments in full," he adds.

Whereas, Bollywood films like Amitabh Bachchan's 'Gulabo Sitabo,' Akshay Kumar's 'Lakshmi Bomb,' 'Vidya Balan's 'Shakuntala Devi,' and many more are slated for OTT release.

Some Telugu stars are not in sync with times and it's time they change their mindsets. "Due to stars like Anushka, Nani, Ram, top brands like Amazon Prime and Netflix are offering fancy sums to the tune of Rs 30 to 40 crore per film for digital rights for movies like 'Nishabhadam," 'V,' and 'Red', while relatively smaller movies like 'Uppena' and '30 Rojjula Preminchadam Ela' also got decent offers," adds another producer, who feels that stars should come out of 'theatre-phobia' and look for alternative platforms to keep the sinking industry afloat.

"It is only in the mind that old-fashioned theatres are the best bet. But, OTT platforms have a huge clientele and Telugu stars can expand their fan base," he concludes.

Nonetheless, if producers of 'Nishabhadam' are able to convince leading actress Anushka for OTT premier this month, it could trigger a new trend in Telugu cinema since the film has been traded for Rs 30 crore as it is made in four languages-English, Hindi,Telugu,Tamil.