Speaking at a press meet the other day, producer Bunny Vasu commented that only two extremes prevail in the Telugu film industry. Your film is either a super-hit or an unmitigated disaster. "If it is a super-hit, you get to make money. If it is a disaster, you will lose so badly that even the money you have invested on movie posters won't be recovered. So, don't make movies for the sake of it. Gone are the days when movies used to recoup a minimum amount of money," Bunny Vasu said.
The state of affairs is entirely because of the rank hypocrisy in the Telugu film industry. Producers complain about rising costs, but can't stand united to improve the situation. One day, they say the whole country looks up to Tollywood. Another day, they cry about their inability to curb exploitative unions in the industry. Distributors complain about how they are always taken for a ride, as if they were mandated by scriptures to splurge their monies on absolutely lousy movies.
While the Hindi film industry implemented the eight-week OTT window norm without a struggle, Tollywood has failed to protect its interests due to short-termism. Producers talk like accomplished pundits in one interview, only to crib that everyone is short-sighted and selfish in another interview.
Then there is the crisis of creativity. Almost all second-rung and third-tier directors are unproductive. They think they are supposed to produce/make only one hit every five years. They chase big stars and pan-Indian movies without possessing the creative range required. They are one-trick directors with no variety in them.
