Other day after turning up at “Mental Madhilo” movie success meet as a Presenter of the movie, Suresh Babu, the senior producer with almost four decades of presence in the industry got shocked. Then he has come to know that the film is in its 4th week and running in 15 theatres all over Andhra Pradesh. While addressing the media at this meet, Suresh Babu made some stunning comments.
On success meets..
“Right now in Film Industry everyone is coming up with a success meet just 3 days after the release, but what is the reality? Is it really a success? The success of Mental Madhilo is Raj Kandukuri has booked director Vivek Aatreya for another film and that is the real success. If you take Mental Madhilo, it got good reviews and everyone has done a good job, but did it perform fully at the box office? Now we need to make any analysis of what did achieve with a film at box office. We should not hide the facts under the carpet and accept reality” said Suresh Babu, hinting that Mental Madhilo under-performed at the box office.
“A music composer will achieve his target only if his song is played on Radio every day or if he signs 100 films. Otherwise, he has to sit and analyse what he has to do rather feeling shy” he further added.
On Mental Madhilo prospects..
“Mental Madhilo is a good film, that is why I’ve backed it. But Mental Madhilo is not the right title for audiences, though it is right for the film. No one can say a ‘yes’ ‘no’ kind of answer for the question if the title is right or not, but one has to make answers for it” he said, adding that film’s success is dependent on various things.
On Audiences and film viewing..
Suresh Babu’s logic as to why audiences are not coming to theatres even after a film got rave reviews is thought-provoking. “Even after a film got 3 and 3.5 ratings, audiences are not coming to theatres. They have Netflix and Amazon, and they got Jio on mobile to watch movies. There is no compulsion on them to visit theatres. If we want Tollywood to survive, then we should not stream a film on other media within four weeks of release.
He adds further, “But if producers keep on getting into safe zone themselves, and they sell films that way, then tomorrow films will simultaneously release in theatres and homes all at once, all the way making film viewing experience lose its sheen”.
On promotions..
“In every theatre, trailers of upcoming films should be played for free and that is the rule being followed all over the world. But with the arrivals of Qube and UFOs, audiences are watching only other commercial ads. If trailers are played in theatres, then that directly impacts film-loving audiences. But we are giving ads in expensive mediums like TV and Radio, where all those who have seen ads won’t turn up into audiences.
On release system..
“Already multiplexes are giving 50% share in the first week from a film revenue and then gives 40% next week and 30% later. But the problem comes from single screens as producers have mixed opinion on this. Big Producers don’t want to give percentages but rents, while small film producers want a shared system. Theatres owners are stuck in this game and they want either rental system or share-system to be introduced for all films”
He has even given example, “If a film makes 40 crores gross at the box office, theatres get only 3 crores of it, that’s why they want a share-system”.
On Digital system..
“Qube and UFO like digital service providers should collect a service charge for first five years only and that is implemented throughout the world. And theatre owners should set up infrastructure to play films including providing good sound, toilets, seating or whatever. But here in India, rather theatre owners setting up projector systems on their own, they are depending on digital providers to set the infrastructure. For that reason, these digital providers are collecting huge sum (Virtual Print Fee aka VPF) from us. That’s wrong. In the near future, it’s going to be a huge war between all the stakeholders involved” Suresh Babu said.
On a whole, Suresh Babu’s 15-minute speech has just introduced us to the stark reality of this much hyped and star-studded film industry. His comments are a tight slap to many producers, directors and other parties. We have to see how they will react.
