Balakrishna Urges Stars to Take Up More Films
He argues that this would benefit producers, distributors, and thousands of workers and technicians who depend on regular projects for their livelihood.
Seasoned actor Nandamuri Balakrishna believes that top stars should commit to more projects each year to strengthen the Telugu film industry. He argues that this would benefit producers, distributors, and thousands of workers and technicians who depend on regular projects for their livelihood.
“Balakrishna garu feels stars should do at least three to four films a year, instead of spending 150 to 200 days on a single project,” said T. Prasanna Kumar, Treasurer of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. He recalled how legends of the past kept the industry buzzing with multiple releases in a single year. “NTR once acted in 17 films in a year, while Krishna garu delivered 18. Films like Veera Brahmanendra Swamy Charitra were wrapped up in 17 days, Adavi Ramudu in 38 days, and Dana Veera Soora Karna in under 45 days—all without VFX. In those days, trick shots were done with Mitchell cameras, and NTR even had to remain motionless for seven hours to complete a single shot,” he explained.
With advanced equipment and VFX today, Balakrishna feels films should be made even faster. “Instead, working days are only going up, which is inflating costs,” he added. He also questioned why films now take two to three years to complete, despite technology making corrections easier. “Earlier, stars had to depend on the ‘negative quota,’ waiting for reels to be processed before reviewing their work. Today, on-set monitors allow instant playback. So why the delays?”
Industry veteran Madala Ramakrishna echoed Balakrishna’s concerns. “Production costs have shot up drastically. We see 25 caravans, each accompanied by an entourage of 20–25 members, for every superstar. A producer ends up spending nearly ₹50 lakh a day, but only 40–50% of that is visible on screen. In the past, 90% of the money spent was reflected in the film itself,” he said.
He further pointed out how the burden is being unfairly shifted onto viewers. “Instead of cutting costs, we are burdening audiences with ticket hikes. Telugu cinema was once confined to Telugu states, yet ticket prices were pegged at just ₹10 to ₹40. Now, even as Telugu cinema expands across India and overseas markets like the US and Australia, viewers here are forced to pay ₹800–₹1,000 per ticket. This is unfortunate.
