In an AP Film Chamber of Commerce meeting on Wednesday, distributors will place a resolution demanding high-remuneration directors and actors pay part of their losses if a film bombs.
The meeting stems from the fact that stars and directors are taking home high salaries and are safe from a BO debacle, while distributors exhibitors suffer losses.
But now, the ones taking the film to the market are planning to fight with stars and directors, to recover investment and the meeting in Vizag is being seen as the first step, towards that goal.
“Yes, we are drafting the resolution and it will be passed during Wednesday’s meeting,” reveals V. Veerunaidu, secretary of TFDA. He also adds that they had faced massive losses from Sikander and Rabhasa. Aagadu too does not look promising.
“Some of these big films failed miserably and we were hit badly. We can bear losses upto 20 per cent, but Sikander and Rabhasa led to 75 and 65 per cent of our cash disappearing. Now, Aagadu’s revenues are also not looking good and it will cost us,” adds Veerunaidu.
He continues: “We want to recover money from the director and the actor. They should compensate us from their big salaries,” he says.
But Sunil Narang, a leading distributor from Nizam area, blames the director for a film’s bad revenues.
“We can’t blame the star for the failure of the film; because it’s the star status that gets the big openings. When a director gets a big star, he should take care of his subject and come up with a good film.” Producer Dil Raju, who bought the Aagadu distribution rights for Vizag, says he will be attending the Vizag meet. “We are still discussing the matter and I will talk about it once the meeting is over,” he says.
For Aagadu, director Srinu Vaitla reportedly got Rs 12 crore and Mahesh Babu charged Rs18 crore. This led to the budget of the film escalating to '65 crore and the producer had to sell the film for higher rates.
“Many thought Aagadu will break records. But after three days, the collections have fallen drastically,” says a source.
Director Srinu Vaitla, meanwhile, is hoping the film will be a success.
“You can’t judge a film in a few days. We have to wait till Dasara holidays and take the final figure. I am confident the film will pick up,” he says.
