Digital rights money comes as a booster shot

Even though Telugu films 'Arjun Reddy', 'Ra Randoi Veduka Chuddam,' 'Jawan', 'Mental Madhilo' and 'Nene Raju Nene Mantri' are as different as chalk and cheese, they share one thing in common-digital rights.

According to sources, these films of Gen Y stars have fetched producers amount of anywhere between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 5 crore, which has come as an additional source of revenue for T-town producers.

"It is true that digital rights have come as a booster shot for producers. Earlier, digital rights were inclusive of satellite rights, but now it has become independent.

I sold my recent release 'Mental Madhilo' to 'yuptv' and we hope the demand for content-driven films shoots up in the days to come," says national award winning producer Raj Kandukuri, who doesn't blame digital platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix and others for paying big for star-driven films.

"Even viewers on digital platforms would prefer to watch star-driven films which will help the platforms to make money through advertisements and they don't mind spending crores to grab the rights. For instance, a Pawan Kalyan's film gets viewership 100 times more than say a film with a new face," he adds.

Even though, there were reports that some big films like 'Ghazi' had crossed the Rs 10 crore mark in digital rights, but producer-director Chandra Siddharth begs to differ. "Nobody can verify these figures, but films are sold anywhere between Rs 40 lakh to Rs 5 crore till recently.

With competition growing among digital platforms, the rates are bound to go high. Even flop films are able to fetch digital money, so it is like blessing in disguise for some producers who are reeling under flops," he points out.

Summing up the trend, director Teja who believes that digital rights will be a rage sooner than later, adds "A major chunk of viewers have shifted from theatres to digital platforms as they like to watch their favourite movies comfortably at home.

With new releases also getting slotted after a few months, the footfall is bound to fall in theatres. So, we need to make larger-than-life films, that would compel movie buffs to step into theatres to enjoy in full scale," he concludes.

By BVS Prakash