When many film studios are downing shutters in Hyderabad, renowned Sarathi Studios, the first to be established in Hyderabad (in 1956), has overcome many hurdles over the last six decades to remain in the business. “I do agree that running film studios is not economically viable, and some studios have shut down in Hyderabad and Chennai as well,” admits M S R V Prasad, chairman of Sarathi Studios. “We need love for cinema and passion to sustain in the studio industry. When we took over in 2005, we had a lot of doubts, but we managed to hold the fort and kept the show going.”
He acknowledges that it was difficult to hold on to his passion when property rates were soaring in Hyderabad. It would have been easier to give it up for real estate development and mint gold. “Of course, the temptation was there, since ours is a high-value property situated in the heart of the city and we did think of it. However, we overlooked the huge potential for real estate gains and settled for earning Rs 1 crore per year since our studio is the pride of Hyderabad,” he said.
Studios cannot thrive on film content alone and TV and OTT reality shows have kept them going for many years, Prasad shares “Content creation has taken various forms and has helped studios a bit,” he notes.
Interestingly, Maa Inti Mahalaxmi, the first Telugu film completely shot in Hyderabad, was made at Sarathi Studios in 1959.
Cut to the present: In 2024, they are providing state-of-the-art post-production facilities and work on the much-awaited film Kalki 2898AD is happening in the studio. “From Maa Inti Mahalaxmi to the latest Kalki, our studio has had a memorable and illustrious journey. In fact, we have installed Dolby Atmos, the latest in sound systems, and viewers will enjoy sound effects 360 degrees around them in theatres,” he says, adding, “Our studio has dished out some of the most landmark films in the past and been associated with great filmmakers.”
Sarathi Studios has also produced classic Telugu movies like Mala Pilla, Raithu Bidda and Rojulu Marayi, and they plans to be back in production. “We are thinking about producing films, but nothing is fixed yet,” Prasad reveals.
Talking about latest trends, he says, “AI is a new threat to content creation and we have to be quite watchful, like in Hollywood.”
