Rajahmundry: The Telugu film industry has voiced concern about the declining patronage of filmgoers watching movies in theatres. Recent films like Mental Madhilo, Devi Sri Prasad, Lucky and Balakrishnudu saw patronage only for the morning show and people did not turn up for the first show on the first day. Even films with popular Telugu actors are running only for a week or so. There are very few films that run for more than two weeks. This has not just demoralised the industry but has also instilled a fear in them that if this trend continues, the future of the Telugu film industry will be extremely bleak.
Telugu filmmakers say that gone are the golden days when films with NTR, ANR and others used to run for 100 days. Except for weekends, there is not much patronage during the other days of the week. The film industry blames Tamil Nadu for blatantly encouraging film piracy. Films get pirated during the screening of the first show and are converted into various formats of electronic files which are then shared either in groups of people in Whatsapp or on the social media platforms.
Industry bigwigs say that availability of high speed internet access has made it easy for film buffs to watch films on their mobile phone, tabs, laptops and computers, not to mention home theatre systems. Some online e-commerce stores are purchasing films and giving access to their subscribers. Some are allowing visitors to enter their sites and download the films. As a result, most people watch the films at home, and only those who want the big screen experience go to film theatres.
The GST of 18 per cent had an impact on the filmgoer’s decision of watching a film in a theatre. If a family of four visits a theatre, the total cost of the ticket will get escalated by almost a fifth. Families are therefore reluctant to enter theatres, when the cheaper option of watching a film online is available.Though representatives of the industry have appealed to the Centre to reconsider the 18 per cent GST, so far there has been no response. Film industry sources say that even the films of popular heroes like Pawan Kalyan, Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, Jr NTR, Ram Charan and those of multi-starrers are failing to run successfully.
AP State Film, Televiion and Theatre Development Corporation chairman Ambika Krishna said, “Telugu film industry is feeling the pinch of lack of patronage from filmgoers at film theatres. This has a cascading effect on the entire industry denting earnings of those associated with it. It is not known why a film becomes a hit or a flop and in fact there is no ‘mantra’ for success of films in any film industry whether it is Telugu or Tamil or Hindi. We are trying to address the issue of film piracy but we cannot stop the penetration of high-end technology.”
