Empty Theatres, No Show Worry Exhibitors in Telugu States

Hyderabad: Tollywood is going through some tough times. Yet again, 600-odd theatres have remained empty over the last week or 10 days since Telugu audiences are hardly showing up at theatres. "It has become quite erratic,” says leading exhibitor Sunil Narang. “In one week theatres are running housefull, while in another week we have zero occupancy, quite an astonishing trend,” he adds.

Although films like ‘Sapta Sagaralu Dhaati',’ Nachinavadu’ and ‘Asthadigbhandam’ and a few other films released this week, theatres had no footfalls. “I don’t want to take the names of films, but footfalls in theaters are almost nil this week,” he informs. Due to cancellation of shows, online booking cancellations and zero footfalls in theatres should be worrying exhibitors in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

“We run our theatres on the basis of yearly footfalls instead of weekly and monthly so we are able to survive. Because dismal collections do not even cover our electricity costs let alone other overheads like staff salaries and maintenance. The exhibitors are having a tough time,” he laments.   

It is interesting to note that, theaters across the two Telugu states minted money with blockbusters like ‘Gadar 2,’ 'Jailer' and 'Jawan’ and wore a festive look for a couple of weeks. “It is true that Gadar 2, Jailer, and Jawan drew in big numbers and we could make up for the losses incurred due to other films. I am reiterating the word erratic because audiences are turning up in big numbers one week and next week there is zero occupancy. It is similar to the London Climate where weather is quite unpredictable. Even theatres in Telugu states are going through this uncertainty," he laments.

Does he suggest that only superstars like Sunny Deol and Rajnikanth films work at the box office. “We had a small film Baby rocking at the box office, so it all depends on good content. No doubt, stars have their charisma and mileage,” he concludes.