Contrary to the rumors making rounds that the much-hyped film ‘Pushpa The Rule’ has closed fancy deals with OTT and satellite rights, a leading distributor says, ‘These reports are baseless,” he says and adds, “The makers of Pushpa The Rule’ had just inked a couple of deals and lot more under negotiations,” he adds. With ‘Pushpa The Rise’ garnering over Rs 150 crore gross collections in North India, Bollywood distributors have reportedly agreed to pay Rs 220 crore for Hindi dubbing rights of the sequel. "Allu Arjun stocks are soaring high among Hindi film viewers and the sequel has turned out to be one of the much-awaited Telugu movies among Hindi audiences and it is bound to draw sensational openings in North and Western India in December,” he adds.
The makers also closed another deal-audio right- for a whopping Rs 40 plus crore since the songs like ‘Srivalli’, ‘Saami Saami’, and ‘Oo Bolega Ya Oo Oo Bolega’ became a rage among music listeners in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and other languages. “So the audio rights for ‘Pushpa The Rule’ were bought for a fancy sum which is the highest in the audio deals in recent times. Hope, composer Devisriprasad would come up with more chartbusters and enchanting numbers in the second part too since it’s an action film loaded with songs and entertainment,’ he points out.
However, he says that OTT and satellite rights are under discussion and digital platforms have come up with a new plan for superstar movies. “Top OTT platforms have changed their buying strategy these days. They pay some advance and then wait for theatrical collections to hike or reduce the price. They add some amount if the film grosses Rs 100 crore and then an additional sum after it surpasses Rs 200 crore and so on. Now, the highest rates are determined by footfalls at theatres across India over pre-release amounts, unlike in the past.
Even OTT honchos want to observe a film's performance at the box office since they believe that it would positively reflect when they plan digital premieres. Honestly, it is a win-win situation for big producers and top digital brands. Even the satellite rights for certain languages are yet to be closed since they are holding negotiations with top TV channels in various states, so it will take some more time,” he informs.
Coming back to theatrical earnings, after Hindi dubbing rights, the makers are planning to make over Rs 320 crore in southern states. "They are looking at Rs 180 crore from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and another 130 to 140 crores from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Since Allu Arjun has a huge following in Kerala and Karnataka, distributors are showing keen interest, and negotiations are underway. If everything goes well, it will be another record deal in the south," he concludes.
