100-days run is a myth in Tollywood town

Even though, producers of big-ticket movies like ‘Gautamiputra Satakarni’ and ‘Sathamanam Bhavathi’ unveiled the 100-days posters of their respective films two days ago, industry bigwigs dismiss it as goodwill gesture and not a genuine run.

“It’s true that both these films were money-spinners but the films didn’t exactly run for 100-days with daily collections, rather they were just sustained in a few theatres to register a record and there is nothing more to it,” says veteran producer Prakash Reddy who claims that silver jubilee and golden jubilee celebrations era ended with yesteryear superstars like NTR, ANR and Krishna and to some extent during the hey days of Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna.

“Now-a-days the fate of a Telugu film is decided in one week to 10 days, since audience verdict is merciless irrespective of whether it’s a film of a superstar or a newcomer. Simply, one `sms’ from a dejected viewer about a film is enough to ruin its collections as the news spreads like a wildfire,’ he adds.

Concurring with it, producer-director Chandra Siddharth adds “For the last few years, the success of a film is determined by its box-office collections in the first week and not on the basis of its run at theatres. With most of the star-driven films releasing in more than 800 to 900 theatres and reaching out to nook and corner of the two Telugu states, covering most of the movie-buffs to exploit the potential of the film and eventually cutting short its theatrical run.

So big or a small film, running for four to five weeks with good collections is itself a miracle these days. Earlier, Hollywood stars box-office appeal was counted on the basis on weekend collections and now its turn of Tollywood stars to make or break their film in one week and triggering debates on the particular star losing his charisma,” he adds.

However, director Samudra says releasing in maximum number of theatres is more of a necessity than choice, since piracy is rampant and also to recover huge amounts invested on big-budget flicks.

“Even Bollywood films are released in maximum number of screens to draw more collections since piracy is big threat and even film critics ratings also add to our woes. Now Andhra Pradesh govt has allowed six shows per day for Bahubali 2, so the big-bang release is here to stay and 100 days run will remain a myth,” he concludes.