Tollywood on road to revival as theatres set to reopen

There’s good news for movie buffs. After nine long months, theatres are all set to reopen in Telangana post Diwali. CM KCR made the announcement in a meeting with Tollywood superstars Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna on Saturday, paving the way for theatres to reopen once again, keeping Covid-19 guidelines in place.
Tollywood filmmakers, while welcoming the decision, have urged the government to give them tax concessions to get the industry back on track.“We’re glad that the CM has given permission to reopen theatres. Now the exhibitors and producers will sit together and decide the way forward. Although permission has been granted, the producer needs ample time to advertise the film before releasing it in theatres. I don’t see theatres reopening till Diwali is over,” shares Ram Mohan Rao, Chairman, Telangana Film Development Corporation.
He adds, “Permission to reopen theatres is only the first step. The government must support the industry by giving us concessions on tax. Exhibitors demand that they be allowed to charge parking fees again as they have run into heavy losses due to the pandemic. The government must consider some of these demands and help the industry get back on track.”
Agreeing, leading Tollywood producer Suresh Babu says, “We have to wait and watch to see what the response will be like. Yes, theatres can open but are people be willing to go to theatres with their families during the pandemic?
I don’t believe producers will be willing to take the risk until they are certain that people will go to theatres without any fear.”
As the industry heads towards a ‘new normal’ of its own post Diwali, filmmakers list out some of the challenges that lie ahead.
'Reduced occupancy levels will have a big impact on budgets of big films’

Changes in occupancy of theatres will definitely mean a change in the budget as they always form an integral part of the revenue. For big star films, a film’s budget is 70-80% dependent on box office returns. Satellite and digital cannot make up to that amount of profit. A star who draws in crowds demands more money as they know they make it ring at the box office. So, when sometimes stars and technicians take up 60-65% of the budget as their remuneration, taking a lower cut will definitely ease the burden on producers. We must all come together to make sure the industry survives.
– Sunitha Tati
‘We cannot recover costs if theatres reopen with limited occupancy’

Theatres need to open with full occupancy for us to be able to recover our costs. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, budgets have gone up for the films that had already commenced shoot, since we must make sure all precautions are followed. We resumed shoot for Shiva Nirvana’s Nani starrer Tuck Jagadish recently and now that we have already shot 50% of the film before pandemic, I cannot ask the director to compromise on his vision or ask anyone to cut their remuneration now. This is a testing time for the film industry and hopefully things will improve and people will start thronging to theatres again.
– Harish Peddi
‘Big stars must take pay cuts to revive industry’

The industry will only sustain if heroes, technicians and other artists genuinely take the 20% cut they are supposed to. But heroes normally have airtight deals, and usually, everyone else on the sets except the hero ends up taking a pay cut. Hopefully the stars will recognise the current situation and take a cut to ensure revival of our film industry.
– Gopi Achyanta
‘The next few months will be an experiment for the film industry’

When theatres do reopen, it’s expected that theatrical revenue will reduce by half, due to the rise in OTT content. So, producers will see a 20-25% cut in the net rate they expected. The next few months will be an experiment for the film industry, we will evolve and fix issues as we go. Small budgeted films will continue to take the OTT route in the near future.
– Madhura Sreedhar Reddy