A leading news channel has recently reported that Top Heroes and Directors have been charging a bomb for signing a film. The media house went ahead and released the remunerations chart of most happening heroes and directors in Tollywood.
According to those figures, Pawan Kalyan charged Rs 11 crore for Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu and he is going to get paid anywhere between Rs 12-15 crore for his future projects.
Mahesh Babu too is charging similar pay package. Next on the list is Junior NTR with Rs 10 crore, Ram Charan with Rs 7 crore (Producer’s actor), Prabhas with Rs 7 crore, Allu Arjun with Rs 6 crore (Producer’s actor), Ravi Teja with Rs 6 crore, Ram with Rs 4 crore, Siddharth with Rs 3 crore, Nani with Rs 3 crore and Allari Naresh with Rs 2.5 crore. While big heroes Balayya and Nag were pocketing Rs 6 crore each, another hero in the same league Venky is getting Rs 5 crore per film.
Coming to directors, SS Rajamouli takes whopping Rs 3 crore initially and 33% share in the film later. While Puri Jagannath is charging Rs 11 crore per film, Srinu Vytla and VV Vinayak are pocketing Rs 9 crore and Rs 7 crore respectively.
Looking at these numbers, it’s no surprise that at least 40% production cost of a big budgeted film goes to the remunerations of cast and crew. Though these figures will never be confirmed or denied officially by any of our stars and their directors, they create some serious buzz for sure.
Top Grossers at T-town Box Office in 2012
The success rate of Tollywood films might be high in the India market, but it’s not the same when it comes to Overseas business. Many films which were a profit grossers here, ended up incurring losses to distributors and exhibitors abroad. Here are the Telugu films which brought smiles to the faces of investors.
Overseas (Profit for Distributor) : Gabbar Singh (Rs 1 crore), Eega (Rs 1 crore), Julayi (Rs 60 lakhs), LIB (Rs 50 lakhs), DNR (Rs 25 lakhs), KVJ (Rs 20 lakhs), Ishq (Rs 20 lakhs), Sudigaadu (Rs 20 lakhs), YVM (Rs 20 lakhs).
On the other hand, the Profit for Exhibitors vary based on the quality of the content and the reach of the star. For Gabbar Singh, the buyers got 100 percent profits to the amount they had invested. When it comes to Eega and Julayi, everyone ended up making profits.
Investing on films is a big gamble, especially when it comes to Overseas. Film buffs here prefer to throng theaters only when a film receives positive reviews or good word of mouth, else waits for the DVD or Pirated versions. So, it is better have a better knowledge about the content of the film and it’s reach before investing crores.
The New top 4 of Tollywood
NTR, ANR, Krishna and Sobhan Babu are the first generation superstars of Telugu cinema. After them Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna and Venkatesh stood pillars to the second generation. They are no longer young and strong enough to compete with the younger generation. So the new top four has evolved. Considering the current business craze of the heroes, here are the top four of Tollywood.
NTR, Charan, Mahesh and Pawan Kalyan are the current top four heroes of Tollywood. We are not discussing about who is number one and number two among these four. All these four heroes can do excellent pre release business and assure grand openings. No other hero is even close to these stars at this point. All these four have the star power to deliver industry hit at any given point.
They are beyond the commercial outcome of their films. A series of flops wouldn’t bring their craze down. They can always bounce back and be on top with one film with decent content. It will be hard to decide who the current number 1 of Telugu cinema industry is. But there won’t be any arguments over the given top four list unless they have weak knowledge about films.
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The changing business of Tamil cinema!!!
Chennai Times looks at how the Tamil film industry has moved ahead in recent times and the factors contributing to this change…
Anyone can make a film
Ad man-turned filmmaker Jayendra feels that digital cinema which has made it a level playing ground. “Digital cinema has put the power in the individual’s hands, so, anybody with an idea can make a film. Today, a big or small film doesn’t really mean the budget but rather the idea,” he says. Director Vasanth, who worked as an assistant director for years before making his debut, says that new generation of filmmakers and short films have changed the industry. He credits Kadhalail Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi and the TV show Naalaya Iyakkunar for this change. Short films have become a calling card for passionate youngsters who want to make films, he adds.
Smaller films and budgets
The recent success of a spate of low budget films featuring relatively new teams and the failure of star-driven films has also made producers cautious. Says a Chennai-based distributor, “Rather than burn their fingers by producing big budget bombs, producers today are more open to produce a film with fresh faces. The risk is minimal and given the current trend, selling the film is also easier.”
Jayendra says that after the advent of multiplexes, the concept of screening movies for just one or two shows on a screen has gained ground. “Theatres can afford to experiment by screening a film by a new team for just one show. If the audience likes it, they can later increase the number of shows and screens for the film,” he says and adds that social network has made it easier for word of mouth to spread faster than in the earlier days.
Easy breaks
Actor Vijay Sethupathi, who has been one of the faces of this change, acknowledges that it has become comparatively easier to break into the industry today than it was seven years ago, when he entered films. “Films have become relatively inexpensive thanks to digital and so, producers and directors are willing to take a chance and experiment with new themes and new faces,” he says. Directors who work with new actors too are open to training their cast with the help of theatre artists. “When I came into this industry, I did not know what I should be doing in a shot. But, today, they hold workshops for freshers. And, directors too don’t fret when a newcomer goes for 15 or 20 takes as you are not wasting expensive film stock. We shot six hours worth footage of the cricket sequence in Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom,” he reveals. However, he adds, the means of entry into the industry, especially for actors, remains the same. “You need to know someone who is part of this industry and have to get connected to others with that person’s help,” he quips.
New-age producers
The idea of a producer too seems to have changed in recent times. Corporates and individuals from non-filmi background who have turned producers have managed to infuse fresh thoughts into film production. “Those days, producers were simply not ready to offer you the chance to make a film unless you had an experience working with film units. But, Sashikanth, Nirav Shah and Siddharth were bold enough to back Balaji Mohan based on his short film and showed the rest that it is possible to succeed with an untested talent,” says Vasanth.
i am a die heart fan of tamil and telugu film industry.i feel this industry is much better than bollywood and other cinema industry