Producer Dil Raju surprised everyone when he announced that his recent film Duvvada Jagannadham would collect Rs 100 crore gross in the first week. The film got bad reviews and many people didn’t like its content, but the collections “are reportedly high”. This is not the first time, however, that his film has collected “high revenues” at the box office despite mixed reviews, as his earlier film Sarrainodu did the same. In fact, Sarrainodu was declared a career-best for Allu Arjun!
This is not an isolated case. Many producers go overboard about their film’s collections. A star like Allu Arjun has an added advantage, as his father holds many theatres as distributor and is also a highly influential person in Tollywood. So no questions will be asked.
Rajamouli once revealed that producer Allu Aravind had resorted to inflation of box-office numbers. When asked why the director had given a miss to the 100th day function of one of his biggest blockbusters Magadheera, produced by Allu Aravind, he said he had made it clear to Allu Aravind that he wasn’t in favour of hyping fake box office figures
Interestingly, Tollywood remains the only industry where producers never come out with the exact figures of their film’s collections. “There is no transparency in the industry and even I can’t tell whether a film’s collections are wrong or right,” says K. Damodara Prasad, Secretary, Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. These hyped-up numbers probably stem from the fact that from the last few decades, the competition between the stars has become fierce, with every star wanting to prove their stamina at the box office.
Even top director Rajamouli once revealed in one of his media interactions that producer Allu Aravind had resorted to inflation of box office numbers. When asked why the director had given a miss to the 100th day function of one of his biggest blockbusters Magadheera, produced by Allu Aravind, he revealed that he had made it clear to Allu Aravind that he wasn’t in favour of releasing and hyping fake box office figures.
Interestingly, Tollywood remains the only industry where producers never come out with the exact figures of their film’s collections. “There is no transparency in the industry and even I can’t tell whether a film’s collections are wrong or right,” says K. Damodara Prasad, Secretary, Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce.
“We agreed on a few terms and conditions. However, after the film was finished and came on to the screens, he went back on his word. Not only were the box office numbers inflated, but the film was forcefully made to stay in the theatres even after a successful run for several days. That’s why I wasn’t present at the 100th day function of the film,” revealed Rajamouli, also adding that nearly 20 per cent of the collections were inflated he said.
Dil Raju
Interestingly, producers Allu Aravind, Suresh Babu, Dil Raju and Sunil Narang hold the major part of theatres in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. However, when asked a question about the collections of top films, Sunil Narang chose to shrug it off and simply said, “I don’t know, you have to ask the individual producer.”
Though many refused to talk about this issue, according to our source, many producers exaggerate the numbers to get another big star’s dates. “If they announce high figures, they will easily get another big star to agree to do another film for them. If the producer says that his film is a flop, he may not get financiers for his next film as also dates from another big star,” says the source.
