Every second day Tollywood springs a surprise when it announces a new film with a huge star cast and crew. While that phenomena itself is not new, the thing that is taking people by surprise, is the number of big film projects that are failing to take off and are getting shelved on the writer’s table it self.
Take for instance, Kishore Tirumala who was supposed to direct actor Venkatesh’s next film, Aadavaallu Meeku Joharlu. Kishore even spent a considerable amount of time working on the script, but ultimately, the family drama was shelved. Then you have writer Vakkantham Vamsi, who invested more than a year in scripting his directorial debut starring Jr NTR while the producer invested around Rs 25-30 lakh till that point. The project was eventually shelved.
Why are these films getting shelved at the scripting stage? Producer Suresh Babu says, “Venkatesh liked the plot line, but the script wasn’t shaping up the way he wanted, so he had to drop the project. However, Kishore was told that he can narrate any script that suits Venky anytime.”
So, who bears the loss of these projects? Suresh Babu explains, “The producer invests a certain amount of time and money in the ‘development process’, and the fate of the script is decided at this stage. Even after spending several months and a lot of money (to pay writers, script consultants and other expenses) if the script is not shaping up well, then the producer is forced to drop the project rather than make the film and subsequently incur heavy losses. I have lost four to five crores until now because of projects that have been shelved in the scripting stage itself. I could foresee those films becoming a dud at the box office, if they were made. But I paid all the people who worked till that point, so no one objected. This is one of the reasons why corporates are apprehensive to enter Tollywood. On the other hand, some films do shape up well; like the script of my current film with my son Rana and director Teja, which has shaped up beautifully over a period of time.” On the other hand, Ram Charan’s film with Koratala Siva was launched with a lot of grandeur, but the film had to be called off.
Venkatesh and Jr NTR’s recent films were shelved at the writer’s table
Talking about the development, the film’s producer Bandla Ganesh says, “Sometimes, we make films anticipating that the script will turn out well, but unfortunately it does not and the project gets shelved. I have incurred a loss of around one crore. Finally, it is the producer who has to take the risk because it is a business at the end of the day.” But do the actors pay back the remuneration in such a scenario?
“If it is a big actor, he will either return the advance or the producer can ask him to retain the amount for their future collaborations. Ditto with the directors. It all depends on how you negotiate with them,” explains Ganesh.
Director and producer Maruti feels that whoever wishes to bow out of the project first will have to bear the loss. “Whether it is the producer, director or actor, whoever wants to back out of the project should also discuss about compensating the losses,” he says.
Meanwhile, Ravi Teja and producer Dil Raju were supposed to team up, but due to differences on remuneration issues, they backed off. So what alternatives are the actors and directors left with? “Established actors and filmmakers quickly move on to their next project,” says director P. Mahesh.
The approximate losses incurred by producers for a few shelved films:
Venkatesh Daggubati-Kishore Tirumala
Producer: P. Ram Mohan
Apprx. loss Rs15-20 lakh
Ram Charan-Koratala Siva
Producer: Bandla Ganesh
Apprx. loss Rs1 crore
Vakkantham Vamsi–Jr NTR
Producer: Kalyan Ram
Apprx. loss Rs 25-30 lakh
Ravi Teja’s films with– Chakri, Sudheer Varma and Venu Sreeram
Producer: Dil Raju
Apprx. loss Rs 20-25 lakh
All projects till now
Producer: Suresh Babu
Apprx. loss Rs 4-5 crore
“But for a newcomer, it is really tough. If a new actor takes things in his stride and listens to the script, then it’s good, or else, we have to write a fresh script,” adds director Mahesh, whose film with Sharwanand did not take off after one year of scripting.
“Once script work starts, several others enter into the project and start judging your story. They play spoilsport and things go haywire. So, about 50 per cent of the films get shelved because of poor scripts,” he explains.
Director Maruti adds, “My film with Venkatesh did not materialise and I couldn’t come up with another script that suited him, so we got busy with other commitments. The good news is that if a hero connects to a script, he doesn’t mind even if it was rejected by another hero.”
Krishna Vamsi and Balakrishna’s Rythu was shelved because Amitabh Bachchan couldn’t be a part of it. “If he fails to accommodate dates for the crucial role of a professor, the project will not happen,” Balakrishna has reasoned.
Sudheer Babu
Ramesh Varma, whose films with Naga Chaitanya and Balakrishna never saw the light of day, feels, “Success is the defining factor. Once a director succeeds, naturally, any hero would love to work with him, and so, he doesn’t mind dropping off from an existing project.”
