Yesteryear Superstars Trusted Audiences Over Ticket Price Hike
Veteran Producer Criticizes Modern Telugu Stars for Ticket Hikes, Highlights Legacy of NTR and ANR
By : BVS Prakash
Update: 2024-12-28 05:40 GMT
Amidst Telugu filmmakers rushing to meet Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and set to meet AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to hike ticket rates and benefit shows, a veteran producer says yesteryear superstars like Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, Krishna, and Krishnam Raju never craved ticket hikes and they believed in big turnouts for their movies. “NTR was the biggest superstar from 1960s to 1980 and his ‘Adavari Ramudu’ film made more Rs 1 cr in 1977 on Rs 1 and Rs 2 ticket rates and many enjoyed watching movies by riding on bullock carts,” says veteran producer Prasanna Kumar, and adds, ‘Despite their stardom, NTR, ANR, Krishna and Krishnam Raju never thought of hiking the ticket rates since they wanted more people to watch their films since cinema was one of the cheapest entertainment for people in villages and towns and Telugu cinema thrived on audience patronage,” he adds.
Unlike now, where young heroes are hiking their remunerations from Rs 5 cr to 10 and then 20 crores per film after a couple of films without realizing ground realities and ruining the industry. “NTR and ANR used to discuss with distributors a lot before hiking even Rs 10,000 pay. For instance, they would call the distributor and ask him about the collections of their last flop, I repeat the last flop. He would say that their last two films made 6 lakhs and Rs 7 lakhs. Then they would hike their fee by Rs 10,000 which is 10% of 1 lakh extra collection on a flop movie and didn't hike their pay based on Rs 1 crore hit film, which is happening now,” he points out. These stars always believed in safeguarding producers and distributors and compensating them if they suffered losses and always worked with reliable producers and distributors. "Even then, new producers would offer them four to five times their pay and sought their dates, but they politely declined them. They wanted to promote good producers and wanted them to be happy and flourishing and only then, actors and technicians would have a livelihood. They were treating producers with a lot of respect and dignity and as paymasters, unlike a few new-age actors, now who detest producers coming on to their sets,” he laments.
He also says that footfalls in theatres during the olden days matched the collection figures but nowadays, no such match can be traced or detected. “In those days, one lakh audience would have watched a film which made Rs 1 lakh, but now the same collection of Rs 1 lakh, would count 1000 viewers and this surely shows the depleting footfalls at theatres and without theatrical collections cinema will be ruining for hundreds of small films,” he concludes.
Unlike now, where young heroes are hiking their remunerations from Rs 5 cr to 10 and then 20 crores per film after a couple of films without realizing ground realities and ruining the industry. “NTR and ANR used to discuss with distributors a lot before hiking even Rs 10,000 pay. For instance, they would call the distributor and ask him about the collections of their last flop, I repeat the last flop. He would say that their last two films made 6 lakhs and Rs 7 lakhs. Then they would hike their fee by Rs 10,000 which is 10% of 1 lakh extra collection on a flop movie and didn't hike their pay based on Rs 1 crore hit film, which is happening now,” he points out. These stars always believed in safeguarding producers and distributors and compensating them if they suffered losses and always worked with reliable producers and distributors. "Even then, new producers would offer them four to five times their pay and sought their dates, but they politely declined them. They wanted to promote good producers and wanted them to be happy and flourishing and only then, actors and technicians would have a livelihood. They were treating producers with a lot of respect and dignity and as paymasters, unlike a few new-age actors, now who detest producers coming on to their sets,” he laments.
He also says that footfalls in theatres during the olden days matched the collection figures but nowadays, no such match can be traced or detected. “In those days, one lakh audience would have watched a film which made Rs 1 lakh, but now the same collection of Rs 1 lakh, would count 1000 viewers and this surely shows the depleting footfalls at theatres and without theatrical collections cinema will be ruining for hundreds of small films,” he concludes.