Sivaji criticises high-budget films

Actor Sivaji, who will release his film Boochamma Boochodu on September 5, says that the industry needs low-budget films like these to be successful. “These days many producers are coming up with films with budgets of around Rs50 crore. If the film fails, the producer comes with a film with a higher budget to make up for the earlier losses. But my question is when these big-budget films are failing at the box-office, where is the money going?” asks Sivaji.

He also criticises producers for not coming up with good films. Not naming anyone in particular, he says, “A so-called producer started making profits with small films and then made a big-budget film. He was not quite successful at that and now he is again coming down to small films.” He adds that without proper story and control on budget, one can’t sustain in the industry.

“I had produced four films and at that time I couldn’t control the budget. Now I know how to control it. I used a maximum of 15 to 20 people instead of hundreds. Producers can control the budget, but they are not doing so because they are looking at big director-actor combinations,” he says.

He points out that recently, a producer put in nearly Rs 40 crore for a film that has recovered Rs 30 crore. “The producer says that his film is a big hit. This is the situation at present in the industry,” he says, adding, “I am trying my best to come up with a small film that will be successful.”

When asked whether the industry would move out of Hyderabad, Sivaji, who had campaigned for the BJP in the last elections, says, “If KCR says ‘you can stay here’, we will stay here; if he ask us to leave, then we have to go.”