Ace choreographer-turned-actor Ragava Lawrence had a decent enough market in two Telugu states with hits like ‘Ganga’ and ‘Kanchana 2’ which set cash registers ringing and minted more Rs 30 crore in Telugu states. “Few years ago, his horror comedies were sold like hot cakes in Telugu states and he carved a niche for himself among Telugu viewers,” says a distributor and adds, “But his latest film ‘Jigarthanda DoubleX’ had no takers in Telugu states,” he adds. He claims that the Telugu distributors became apprehensive after colossal flops like ‘Chandramukhi 2’. “If not for ‘Chandramukhi 2’, Lawrence movie ‘Jigardhanda…’ could have fetched a better price since it is a typical action film made by Karthik Subbaraj,” he points out.
He claims that the action adventure is being released under distribution in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “Under distribution system, no advance amount is paid beforehand. Instead, Telugu distributors would release the film in two Telugu states and pool up money collected by the film. They would pay back Tamil producers the money earned after deducting their 8 to 10 percent commission,” he informs.
In fact, Lawrence was launched as a hero in Telugu with ‘Style’ and thereafter he directed Nagarjuna in two hit films ‘Mass’ and ‘Don’ but he couldn’t repeat the magic with Prabhas in ‘Rebel’. Later, he moved to Kollywood and began to dish out horror comedies and made a name for himself.
