Whenever a big film flops at the box office, distributors and exhibitors make a beeline for the producer, the Film Chamber or Producers’ Council to recover their money. When Balakrishna’s Okka Magadu had flopped eight years back, distributors and exhibitors had actually gone on a hunger strike, asking for compensation for their losses.
It is understood that if they suffer losses of more than 20 per cent, they ask the producer to compensate them. It’s a mutual understanding as producers make their money from distributors before a film releases. A big film that did not live up to expectations recently was Pawan Kalyan’s Sardar Gabbar Singh. However, only a few distributors suffered losses as the film was not a complete disaster.
“Pawan Kalyan assured everyone that he would compensate the distributors with his next film, which will be directed by S.J. Suryah,” says a source, adding that Dilip of Indra Films had bought the rights of Sardar Gabbar Singh and he got an assurance from Eros International for compensation.
It was the same with Mahesh Babu’s Brahmotsavam more recently. Distributors have faced huge losses on the film, particularly the Nizam and overseas distributors. The film is projected to collect around Rs 10 crore in Nizam area, which means that the distributor lost half his investment.
“Producer PVP is in touch with every distributor and assured us that he would compensate everyone who incurred losses,” says Abhishek Nama, who bought the film’s rights in Nizam.
The overseas distributor had brought the rights for Brahmotsavam for nearly Rs 13 crore, and he, too, incurred losses. The source added that Mahesh Babu informed the producer that he will return part of his fees, as he did with Aagadu.
