Young Hero’s 3 Films in Trouble, No Cut in Remuneration; Producers Clueless

The Telugu film industry is not doing well of late. Several producers are struggling to recover their costs, and the success rate is very low. Only about 10 percent of films produced each year turn a profit. While a few others manage to break even, most films end up in losses, burning a hole in producers' pockets.

A young hero is reportedly charging ₹8 to ₹9 crore per film. Earlier, he used to demand around ₹10 crore, but after a series of flops, he has slightly reduced his fee. Even so, he is now being forced to cut it down further. Despite that, three of his upcoming films are in a tough financial situation, and the producers are clueless about how to recover their investments.

Unfortunately, the non-theatrical deals for these films are yet to be closed. While two of them are completed, the third one hasn’t even gone on floors yet.

The TV rights of the two finished projects are still pending, and unlike earlier times, satellite rights are no longer bringing in the expected revenue.

One of these films was made on a ₹40 crore budget, but its theatrical value is only ₹15 crore, and even that amount has no takers so far.

The producers are hoping to recover the remaining ₹25 crore through OTT, satellite, and other non-theatrical avenues—but that looks unlikely. A fallout with one OTT platform has led to talks with another, but nothing has been finalized yet.

Another film featuring the same actor has a budget of ₹25–30 crore. Its producer is trying to sell it as part of a package along with a bigger, star-led film. Thanks to its genre, there is some hope it may find buyers.

The third film has been delayed for a long time, and the producer is clearly under financial pressure. He, too, is relying on a bigger film in his pipeline to help seal a bundled deal.

All of this raises a serious question: Can only producers with big-ticket projects in hand manage to sell smaller films as part of a package? Meanwhile, the hero's remuneration has remained unchanged.

And this isn’t an isolated case—many Tollywood actors are following this same unsustainable pattern, further burdening an already struggling industry.