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The way films are made in Tollywood is gradually changing. Producers are increasingly favoring big-budget movies with grand setups and stunning visuals, aiming to create spectacular cinematic experiences. Naturally, this drives up the overall cost of production. However, despite pouring in crores of rupees into their projects, the workers in the industry have been demanding higher wages and have been on strike for the past week.

Several rounds of discussions have taken place between the federation leaders and producers. Finally, in a meeting held on Saturday, producers agreed to increase workers’ wages under certain conditions. But the federation leaders were not satisfied with this agreement, claiming that the producers’ demands are aimed at splitting the federation.

This ongoing situation has sparked widespread debate about the real ground realities in the Tollywood film industry. In a recent interview, renowned director Ram Gopal Varma weighed in on the issue. He criticized producers for constantly comparing their films with other movies and spending crores just to outdo them. He knows who these producers are but chose not to name them. Varma also commented on the term “production value,” saying it’s a concept unique to Tollywood and unheard of in other Indian film industries.

According to him, producers have an obsession with scaling up everything. For example, if there’s a scene in the film “Magadheera” with a certain set size, they want their sets to be 20 feet bigger. If “Magadheera” used 10 horses, they expect to use 40 in their film. This obsession with grandeur is seen as a major achievement by producers here. He pointed out that in Malayalam cinema, the term “production value” doesn’t even exist, and Bollywood doesn’t face this issue either. Yet, in Tollywood, critics often praise films just because of their production values.

Meanwhile, the strike by Tollywood workers demanding wage hikes has become a hot topic over the past week. Although producers finally agreed to increase wages, the federation leaders remain unconvinced, alleging that the producers’ conditions could divide the federation further.