Balakrishna Urges Heroes to Increase Film Output

The ongoing tussle between exhibitors and producers/distributors in the Telugu film industry continues to spark debate, with concerns growing over the future of the exhibition sector. Addressing exhibitors at an event in Vijayawada, Nandamuri Balakrishna stressed the need for top heroes to take up more projects every year to ensure a healthy flow of films into theatres.

“It is the collective responsibility of the Telugu film industry to make sure we produce enough films to sustain the exhibition sector. It is painful to see theatre owners shutting down properties because of a lack of regular film releases. We worked much faster in earlier times despite limited technology. Today we have advanced tools and techniques, yet film production is slowing down,” Balakrishna said.

Supporting Balakrishna’s comments, Telugu Film Producers Council honorary secretary T. Prasanna Kumar said the actor believes top stars should commit to more projects each year to strengthen the industry ecosystem.

“Balakrishna garu feels stars should do at least three to four films annually rather than spending 150–200 days on a single project. This would help producers, distributors, technicians and thousands of workers who depend on regular projects for their livelihood,” Prasanna Kumar said.

He recalled how legends of the past maintained a hectic pace and kept the industry active with multiple releases every year.

“NTR acted in 17 films in a year, while Krishna garu delivered 18 films. Movies like Veera Brahmanendra Swamy Charitra were completed in 17 days, Adavi Ramudu in 38 days and Dana Veera Soora Karna in less than 45 days, all without VFX support,” he explained.

He added that filmmaking techniques today have become much more advanced, making faster production possible.

“Despite modern technology and on-set monitoring systems that allow immediate playback and corrections, films are taking two to three years to complete. Instead of reducing production time, working days are increasing and pushing costs upward,” he said.

However, a noted producer differed with the emphasis on quantity over quality. “The days of big stars doing five to ten films a year are gone. Today's Gen Z audience is sharper and more discerning. They seek quality rather than quantity and closely observe even minor flaws in films. Besides, Telugu stars had a limited reach in the past, whereas present-day stars like Prabhas, Allu Arjun, NTR and Ram Charan cater to pan-India audiences. Hence, taking additional time for perfection has become essential,” he concluded.