It has come to light that a few producers like Dil Raju, Damodara Prasad, Paruchuri Prasad, Tagore Madhu, Teja, Kodali Venkateswara Rao and others have formed a close-knit group outside the aegis of the Producers’ Council and the Film Chamber, the recognised bodies for the Telugu Film Industry, for cutting costs.
The matter came to light when a section of the electronic media wanted to boycott a press conference for producer Dil Raju’s Ok Bangaram, as he had advertised only with two TV channels.
“Though there are hundreds of producers registered with the Producers’ Council, only a few of them are active producers who make films. If we go through the Council, things are not always possible as many members could oppose it. So around 15-20 of us decided to form a group and tie up with the top two channels,” says producer Damodara Prasad.
“While we producers often announce that our films are collecting huge revenues and declare them to be blockbusters, in reality, we are not getting anything. Many films are actually making losses. When we analysed, we realised that we were spending too much money on things like publicity,” says Dil Raju.
“If I make a film below Rs 1 crore, I have to spend nearly double the amount on publicity to compete with a big star film. There are more than 20 TV channels and if I advertise with all of them, I won’t be able to release my film. There are also other expenditures and it is very difficult for producers to meet the expenses. So some of the big producers are actually killing small films,” says Teja.
The producers also blame the AP Film Producers’ Council and Film Chamber for not taking any positive steps. They also find fault with the agreement between the AP Film Federation Employees and the AP Producers’ Council for “unnecessarily” hiking the wages of the employees.
