Changing the game of Tollywood, People Media Factory is planning to sign multiple movie deals with big actors, ala Bollywood corporate houses. After signing action hero Ravi Teja for a four-film deal, they also inked a pact with young hero Aadi Saikumar and looking to rope in more stars. “It is a new working style they are trying to bring into Tollywood and it augurs well for the industry,” says a source and adds, “Only Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar have signed 3 or 4 film deals with corporate houses and now this practice is going to help Telugu stars too,” he adds
He claims that Ravi Teja’s 4-film deal for Rs 100 crore with People Media Factory has set a precedent of sorts and he has done ‘Dhamakha’, ‘Eagle’, and now ‘Mr. Bachchan’ in one year. “Even stars would be happy to do more films with a single banner rather than waiting for new producers to approach them. It is a win-win situation for both actor and producer. Whereas, producers, are getting the dates of big stars for reasonable remuneration and they need to find the right director and script and churn out movies. They can also recover their money over four films than just one film,’ he points out
Producer TG Vishwaprasad is also planning to float three more banners and has brought in his his daughter on board to oversee the production and creative aspects of their films to deliver more hits “She supervised their big ticket film ‘Maname’ with Sharwanand in London and was a hands-on producer. She offered a lot of creative tips and suggestions to cut costs and shoot in picturesque locations,” he adds.
He also introduced story department culture in Tollywood where the stories are heard by a creative team and once approved, they move to the next level of budgeting and casting. “Even scene-to-scene analysis is being done by the creative team to shore up the success rate of their movies,” he concludes.
