Much like everybody else, Tollywood is facing the heat following the demonitisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. With the general public spending hours standing in serpentine queues outside banks and atms, people neither have the time or are in the mood to go to the cinema halls. Moreover, with a severe shortage of cash flow as it is, people are being careful with the way they spend every single penny, and are unwilling to spend even Rs 50 on cinema tickets. This has resulted in many of the cinema halls running empty and six releases have now been postponed.
That public mood in the country is such that entertainment has taken a backseat and films have suffered. Take for instance, Gautham Menon’s Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo (SSS), which released last Friday. Despite positive reviews – from both critics and audience – the film has been running to largely empty theatres across the sibling states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, especially in single screens, where there’s no option of online booking.
“Around 30 per cent of our collections have been hit by the demonitisation. Fortunately, the people who have watched it have given a thumping response and with no major release for the next three weeks, we hope to recover the money lost,” shared Gautham Menon.
When asked if he was tempted to postpone the release and wait until the situation improves, Gautham said, “We did think about it but since we had already postponed the film several times, we thought it would be unfair to postpone it further. Moreover, my producer gave me huge confidence and said that we needn’t worry since the content is strong.”
While SSS may have taken the gamble, almost every other film has pulled out and has now been postponed until the situation eases. One of the biggest release is Ram Charan-starrer Dhruva, which was initially scheduled to release on December 4, but has now been postponed to the second or third week of December. According to sources, Allu Aravind, the film’s producer, had taken this decision as he felt this is not the right time to release the film.
“Obviously the PM’s announcement has come as a surprise for all of us and with most people struggling to find cash to meet their basic necessities, the makers feel this is not the right time for a release. Once things settle down and life becomes normal again, they will release the film,” said a source from Dhruva’s unit.
While as many as six films have been postponed due to the prevailing cash crunch, Nikhil Siddharth-starrer Ekkadiki Pothaavu Chinnavaada is going ahead with its release on Friday.
“We’re extremely nervous, given how the situation is. Everyone is tense in the industry and while we welcome the prime minister’s decision, there is a bit of angst since this (cash crisis) has been going on for over a week and the situation has not improved significantly,” Nikhil observed. Like Gautham Menon, the producers of Ekkadiki Pothaavu Chinnavaada were also contemplating about postponing the release, but decided to go ahead since they will get a solo release.
“Since the ticket prices are not very high and people do need entertainment as well, we are hoping people will come and watch the film,” Nikhil optimistically added. Meanwhile, the producers community as a whole, have welcomed the prime minister’s decision and stated that they are “willing to bear inconvenience for the greater good”.
“This is only temporary and we expect things to ease down in a month or so. Yes films are getting delayed but the productions will not stop. Moreover, we must understand the sentiments of the common man. If the common man is suffering, we cannot selfishly think about our collections,” said T Prasanna Kumar, general secretary, Telangana Film Producers’ Council.