Home > Articles > Woes Of Telugu Cinema Woes Of Telugu Cinema The making of 'Narasimhudu' and its repercussions still haunt the film industry. Its producer Chengala Venkatrao jumped into Hussain sagar waters, but rescued. Film industrialists make a grin when posed with the question of why and how such films are made that lead to disaster of the film industry itself because of the volume of investment. Many stories point at the foolishness of producers who have no knowledge of the potential of the market and making a film to its measure. Profit means the money that one saves from his investment minus expenditure. Can Telugu market bear 20 crore investment of a film and can it turn out at least the same amount back to the producers. None thinks of the quality of the story that draws audience to the theater. Today a star actor means the huge investment one makes on his film. His remuneration is in crores of rupees. And the director, who makes that film, is also receiving money in crores these days. Now the scriptwriters feel belittled and hence more money is given to them too. The producers are playing with the very careers of persons working in other wings of the film system – distribution and exhibition. Now that the new tax policy gave some relief to the exhibitors as they pay tax only to the tickets sold, it is time for all to have a second thought on filmmaking. Release of 'Narasimhudu' with great deficit, itself tells the tale of the Telugu cinema making. It is more a gambling. If you count the figure of professional producers and traditional film making houses, you have hardly a dozen. But the number of producers registered in the film chamber of commerce is in hundreds. What these producers are doing is the issue. Most of them are coming from real estate business or from other walks of life, and definitely not from the film field. They don't know how to make a film. And the people who trap an amateur producer promising him a great future. Story, screenplay, dialogue and lyric writer and director are handled by one person, which means quite a lot of saving because of such a multi-faceted talent. Those rich, who have plenty of loose money can waste it on his fancies and also can circulate black money, get easily trapped, because they have no idea at all of film making. They are attracted to the glamour part of cinema. Films made thus either remain in cans or return to the producer in boxes the very next week. There ends his 'itch' of filmmaking. Veteran Producer Ramanaidu advises the new producers first get the complete script written, much in advance, read it half a dozen times, understand its import and only then plan the film right from choosing artistes who suit his characters to selecting a director who can handle the type of subject he has in his hand. "Read the script of a scene before going to sets to shoot that particular scene. He should also keep the entire set material ready with his personal supervision. All this should be planned in advance and keep it ready with the consultation of the director and production executives. This will save at lease thirty percent of the cost of production", Ramanaidu says. It is a pity that remuneration figures mounted up like hell. NTR and ANR at their peek period were being paid in an average of Rs.Five to Six lakhs. Almost when NTR was about to launch his political party, the films made at that time hiked his figure a little, compared to what is being paid today to a Hero. But the story is different. Producers themselves race against each other offering more money just to bag the dates of that star actor. And directors have also hiked their figure also in Crores of rupees. The top actors' figure is ranging any where between Two crore rupees to Six crores, it is learned. The rest of the remuneration being paid to writers and music composers and other technicians also is hiked in that proportion. The fans feel cheated more than their hero. They are not bothered about the economics of the film and problems faced by the producer. The producers feel that the buyers cheated them by not paying the promised money. But buyers say they paid more than that. First the producers should be united and start thinking of controlling the budget figures. Theatre rents are to be brought down. Now the menace of piracy is another that still worries producers. No good themes now. Most of them are repeat stories. Nobody thinks of how to make it well, except thinking that the film would bring him or her fortune. They don't even know the process of production, distribution and exhibition and the implications and money transactions in it. Quick moneymaking. For some this is a glamour world, which they can enjoy. Producer and director listen to only hero and to none else. Producer should have the taste for making a good film. In other language films especially in other countries and even in other languages including Tamil, people struggle to first get a good story. Subjects look refreshing. But in Telugu the subjects look alike, the moment a film becomes super hit. The same subject gets repeated. There is a capacity for every market including the Telugu market. One should never cross the limit. They want to make quick money. This is a new trend. One should understand that a 'producer' is the base of the film industry. The rest are all using his money to bring out their histrionic or technical talent to use. Spend less, make more money. This is secret of filmmaking. But producer is reduced to be a mere cashier, says director Mutyala Subbaiah. Locations and other paraphernalia and postproduction publicity, should also be taken care of by the producer, says Sri Adiseshagiri Rao, Chairman, APSFDC. "They should spend more money only to what appears on screen and save from what does not appear on the screen. The print has gone up to 200 or 300 rolls, complains chairman of the producer's council K.S.Rama Rao. Number of working hours is coming down contributing to the wastage, he complains. - ASLESHA