అంతరిక్షం నుంచి భూమికి సునీతా విలియమ్స్‌.. ఏ రోజంటే..

At the Directors Day celebrations held at Shilpa Kala Vedhika, producer Mythri Ravi attended as one of the chief guests and shared an insightful observation about the evolving mindset of the film industry.

He revealed an interesting conversation he had with Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil, who once invited him to dinner and spoke about the Kerala film industry’s approach. According to Fahadh, filmmakers there aim to create “Baahubali-level” box office success even with budgets as low as ₹20 crore. Ravi said he was impressed by this thinking, which reflects a belief that big returns don’t always require massive spending.

He pointed out that the industry realized this philosophy quite late. During the COVID period, OTT platforms offered large deals to producers, which significantly altered the filmmaking ecosystem. As a result, remuneration for actors, technicians, and directors increased sharply, and production budgets also expanded in the name of scale and ambition.

However, when the market corrected itself, those inflated expectations remained. Today, the industry is struggling to adapt, especially when it comes to balancing budgets and recoveries. The question arises why Malayalam cinema is able to achieve ₹100–₹200 crore success stories with modest budgets, while Telugu cinema finds it difficult to replicate the same model.

A key reason, he noted, is the gradual decline of “small cinema” in Telugu. With OTT platforms reshaping viewing habits, audiences have largely associated theatres with only big stars and large-scale action spectacles. This shift has unintentionally pushed smaller, content-driven films away from theatrical success.

He added that during the OTT boom, Malayalam cinema survived because it did not rely heavily on star-driven demand and continued to depend on theatrical strength. Now, even though OTT platforms are paying well for Malayalam content, their ecosystem remains more balanced compared to others.

Ravi also indirectly pointed out that production houses have contributed to rising costs by competing to secure star dates and increasing remunerations during the boom period. This has now become a structural challenge for the industry.

He cited examples of ongoing projects where budgets and salaries appear disproportionate to the expected market returns. In some cases, even relatively new or low-success actors are being paid surprisingly high amounts, raising questions about financial logic.

At the same time, he emphasized that both producers and directors share responsibility in controlling budgets and maintaining sustainability. However, he stressed that producers also need to rethink their approach instead of blindly chasing inflated market expectations.

He further questioned why most major stars are focusing only on action-oriented, pan-India scale films, while genres like romance, family entertainers, and light-hearted dramas are being ignored. He pointed out that earlier successes like Brundavanam, Arya, and even re-releases of classics like Darling still receive strong audience response, proving that content-driven films still have strong demand.

He also raised concerns about the long production cycles of major stars like Prabhas, N. T. Rama Rao Jr, and Allu Arjun, noting that long gaps between films are affecting theatrical consistency and revenue flow.

Finally, he highlighted a growing imbalance where high theatrical prices are being set for big films regardless of genre or scale. Even rooted dramas like Peddi are reportedly being valued at levels similar to pan-India spectacles like Pushpa 2, creating pressure on buyers and exhibitors.

He concluded that unless the industry recalibrates its approach—balancing budgets, genres, and release frequency—theatres may continue to face serious survival challenges in the long run.