Telugu cinema's theatrical business is soaring, while other industries are still struggling to find their feet

The theatrical business across the globe has taken a hit because of the pandemic and the Indian market is no exception.

However, when Master released earlier this year to great numbers, everyone in the trade was confident and said that the film revived the theatrical business in Tamil Nadu and many markets across India. Master indeed gave a new lease of life to the theatrical business, especially to Tamil cinema, but none of the Tamil films that were released after the Vijay-starrer succeeded at the box office. Sources say that the Tamil films that were released after Master couldn't even cover the print and publicity expenses.

Malayalam cinema is at an all-time low with 50 percent occupancy in Kerala theatres and limited shows. Kannada cinema has scored a few hits here and there but the situation is not as encouraging. The producers in Hindi are testing the waters, and recently with Roohi doing decent business, things may be looking up.

While all other industries are struggling to deliver one or two profitable films after the lockdown, the Telugu film industry is booming right from the Sankranti releases and their hit rate is impeccable.

Ravi Teja's Krack, debutant actor Panja Vaisshnav Tej's Uppena, Naveen's recent Jathi Rathnalu, Red, Naandhi, and Zombie Reddy are all the hit Telugu films in 2021.

A still from Krack.

So the question is, how is this happening? Telugu audiences are clearly embracing their movies. Mallikarjuna Rao, who distributed films like Master, Naandhi, and Chakra in Telugu in the Guntur area, says, "The main problem with the Tamil and Malayalam industries is that the producers and directors are not acquiring content which audiences would like to come and watch in theatres."

"In Telugu, we deliver the content which our audiences want. Whereas in Tamil and Malayalam, directors make movies they like and expect the audiences to accept their vision. A section in India criticises Telugu films for being too mainstream but our audiences like these types of films and we are proud to deliver what they want. I'm sure most of the audiences in India want to watch commercial films but the directors in the respective industries are not willing to deliver what their people want," he adds.

"In Tamil, Master is a huge blockbuster. I distributed the film here in Telugu, it was a blockbuster here as well. Jathi Ratnalu, a small Telugu film that was made at a budget of 4 crores is all set to make 40 crores. So, audiences are ready to watch the film in theatres but producers and directors should understand their taste."

Sakthivelan of Sakthi Film Factory, who distributed the blockbuster Kadai Kutty Singam, says, "Due to the pandemic, the elite crowd who would love to watch critically acclaimed films are not coming out. They are happy watching films in their homes. Master is a huge blockbuster that almost all audiences in Tamil Nadu watched so they are very much ready to watch the films in theatres. I'm sure after Dhanush's Karnan and Karthi's Sulthan, things will change."

Rakesh of Vettri Theaters in Chennai says, "In my theater, Master had a phenomenal run and Parris Jayaraj also attracted enough audiences. But other films are not exciting for the audiences. If we had big releases like Dhanush's Karnan, Sivakarthikeyan's Doctor, and Karthi's Sulthan, you wouldn't be writing this article."

Rakesh agrees with Mallikarjuna Rao's statement on the lack of commercial movies. "During the pandemic, people would like to watch fun films and not serious content. Due to the hike in paper advertisements, many producers have stopped advertising their films in leading dailies. They are also not advertising in TV channels," he adds.

Mallikarjuna Rao says that Telugu actors and producers are aggressively promoting their films. "After the lockdown, producers should pump in more money for promotions. Sai Dharam Tej, the hero of Solo Brathuke So Better, the first major release post the lockdown, visited the theaters and encouraged audiences to come and watch his film. Our producers are promoting the film in every possible way to attract the audiences", says the Guntur area distributor.

Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Limited

We also reached out to PVR, the biggest multiplex chain in India, to summarize the box office status in India post the lockdown relaxation. Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Limited said, “The recent success of these movies proves that people are willing to come out and watch good content in cinemas due to the confidence-building safety measures strictly adhered to by multiplexes as per the protocols laid down by the government. While Master that was released during Pongal, in Malayalam also it did extremely well; the response from Priest has been quite encouraging. Kannada movies like Pogaru and Roberrt have delivered stellar performance and big Kannada titles are lined up every two weeks. In Telugu, Solo Brathuke So Better released during Christmas and did exceedingly well even with 50% capacity restrictions in Telangana and AP. January being the festive month saw the release of big titles like Krack with packed houses along with Master that was dubbed in Telugu too. The icing on the cake was the performance of Uppena in the Valentine week & Jaathi Rathnalu in March and with both states allowing 100 percent seating, these two movies opened with record-breaking collections. This has boosted the industry and release dates of movies featuring big stars have already been announced till October 2021. Among Hindi titles, the recent success of Roohi in PVR clocking 35 percent of the National Gross Box Office Collections in the first four days of release and within PVR the North & East markets contributing to 60% of the overall Collections has set a trend. However, the fact also remains that restrictions in four states namely Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Jharkhand which still are at 50 percent occupancy also hampers the wide acceptability of the films bringing in lesser audiences to theatres. Producers too are holding back the release of new Malayalam content due to the forthcoming elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Encouraged by these movies’ success, filmmakers have started to line up their big releases from March 2021 onwards. This year would see the maximum number of back to back big-budget multi-language films releasing at cinemas.”