In the last two months, nearly 50 Telugu films — straight and dubbed — hit the screens. All thanks to the vacuum created by the postponement of big ticket movies like Ram Charan's Yevadu and Pawan Kalyan's Atharintiki Daredi, due to the ongoing agitations for and against the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The delay in release has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the small budget film producers, who seized the moment and released their movies. While a handful of films managed to break even, many disappeared into the oblivion. But the bright spot is that a lot of films that were languishing in the labs, finally managed to see the light of day.
Generally, a big star film releases in more than 1500 screens (of the 1800 existing) in the state. This makes it difficult for small filmmakers to find theatres willing to screen their movie. So, when a small budget movie releases in the few available theatres, the chances of it going unnoticed are higher and hence the producers prefer to wait for the right time, even as the interests on the monies raised to make the film, keeps adding up.
"Big producers go for huge releases in a bid to maximise BO returns. So, the best time to release small budget films is when there are no big movies around. Many small films are now getting a lot of theatres, for the same reason," says Adivi Sai Kiran, producer and director. He added that the makers are hoping the audience will come and watch these films at a time when there is a question mark over the release of big movies.
Despite film screenings being stalled due to agitations in nine districts of Andhra Pradesh, some producers went ahead and released their movies, nevertheless, hoping to capitalise on the slew of public holidays in August. "Initially we planned to postpone the film, but seeing that a lot of good theatres were running empty, we decided to release the movie. It was a risk, but we decided to take the gamble and it paid off for us," beams Chintalapudi Srinivasa Rao, producer of Adda.
Though many small budget films hit the marquee, only a few have tasted success. "Besides availability of screens, a lot of factors, like content and publicity need to work for a film to become a success. In any case, the industry operates on a hit rate of 10%, which explains the dismal success rate. However, releasing a small budget film itself is a victory of sorts, irrespective of whether the producer gets any monetory benefit or not," says Saikiran. He is too planning to release his film in couple of weeks.
But is the situation really proving to be an advantage for these filmmakers? "Not really. The only good thing is, they can screen their films in prime theatres which are generally reserved for big budget films," says D Suresh, an exhibitor and distributor. "Whether it's a small budget film or a big budget film, the subject should appeal to the audience. Also, the exhibitors are offering discounts on theatre rents in a bid to not keep the theatres vacant," adds Suresh.
With no big films in sight, plenty more such films are set for release in the coming weeks, hoping to do good business. But it all depends on what the audiences like.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-02/news-interviews/41688036_1_budget-film-theatres-film-screenings
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