Rupees 20 crore ‘Agnyaathavaasi’ losses reimbursed?

Even though distributors and exhibitors bought Pawan Kalyan starrer 'Agnyaathavaasi,' on 'Non-Refundable Advance Agreement', which means that the producers need not refund the losses, but producer Radhakrishna, Pawan Kalyan and director Trivikram Srinivas pooled up money to the tune of Rs 20 crore and paid it to the buyers of Nizam, Andhra and Ceded regions since 'Agnyathavasi' turned out to be one of the biggest disasters, considering its Rs 90 crore business in TS and AP.

"If it had been sold for Rs 60 or 70 crore, the lossess would have been manageable and buyers wouldn't have staked a claim for refund. As it crossed the Rs 90 crore mark, the losses mounted and became unmanageable even for a leading distributor like Dil Raju," said an industry source, who participated in the negotiations between producers and buyers and resolved the issue before it blew up into a big issue.

"Apart from a major chunk of money arranged by the producer, even Pawan Kalyan and Trivikram Srinivas contributed their mite. Finally, the buyers agreed to take back Rs 20 crore and withdrew protests and complaints with the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce.

Actually, collections nosedived after the first day due to an adverse word-of-mouth publicity and backlash on social media besides scathing reviews," adds the source. Frankly, Pawan and his producer have a set a good precedent of sorts, to offset the losses of buyers, who trusted them blindly and paid fancy prices.