Zee Studios Rocking in T-town, Jio Cinema to Step In

Reputed Zee Studios have turned out to be a game-changer for corporate houses in Tollywood by adopting a new approach and strategy to dish out big ticket movies like “Bro’ with Pawan Kalyan, ‘Skanda’ with Ram and Boyapati Srinu and Dulquer Salmaan’s ‘King of Kotha’ and pumped in more than Rs 130-odd crores. “Their new strategy helped them to make inroads in Tollywood and earn a good chunk of money from Telugu films,” says a source and adds, “Earlier, corporate houses used to just think about funding a movie and worried about recovering it. Whereas, Zee altered it and became an equal partner in big movies and then released funds by understanding the difficulties of producers and stars, that titled things in their favour a bit,” he adds.

Few years ago, Tollywood boasted of big corporate houses like Disney UTV, Reliance Entertainment, Endemol Shine International but they slowly lost interest in Telugu movies after a few flops. Besides Telugu superstars and directors were also wary about tough agreements and stricter timelines.  “Of course, Zee also follows the corporate rules but in a more humane and practical manner. Besides hits and flops are part of the filmmaking business. They understand the day-to-day issues of actors and directors of regional cinema and plan things accordingly. With persons with local connections handling things, they are able to help a Rs 5 crore film to be marketed for Rs 10 crore and also reduce a projected at Rs 10 crore film to Rs 5 crore as they know regional markets better,” he informs.

They also have 360 degree vertical share in theatricals and non-theatricals and are able to safeguard their big investments. “They are also making content-driven movies like ‘Vimanam' to build trust for their brand among viewers by properly balancing between big and small movies,” he points out.

With cash-rich Jio Cinema set to enter Tollywood, the source concludes, “Zee always handled competition with ease since they strive on content. When Zee 5 entered the digital space, many said Netflix and Amazon Prime would make their life difficult but they carved a niche for themselves. Now with Jio Cinema in Telugu, they aren't worried much as they are game for competition. They also believe that regional producers' trust in their brand is unshakeable."