2010 has so far been good for Telugu cinema despite the success ratio has not increased. What is good sign for the industry is that very few big films lost money and there is also trend of small films getting good mileage. Balakrishna’s Simha stands as biggest blockbuster this year so far. At the end of six months, the final hits and misses in Tollywood are as follows.

Blockbuster (s)

1. Simha

Collections: Biggest hit so far and might end up in the range of Rs 30 -35 Crores.

Cost to producer: About 18 Crores
Profit/Loss ratio: Producer Parachuri Prasad (his son Kiriti is official producer though) safely released the movie despite track-record of flops. He made huge money after the release and cleared off all the losses he did with earlier movies. Distributors got the biggest profit ever in the recent times thanks to lower price for a big star movie. Distributor in Guntur made huge profits. Interestingly, distributor of Nizam too had big laugh, although traditionally Nizam is considered weak territory for Balakrishna. Producer sold off satellite rights (Rs 3 Crore) to Maa Tv before the release, if he had sold it off the film released, it could have gone for more than Rs 5 Cr.

Hits

1. Adurs
Cost to producer: Rs 26 Crores (budget exceeded thanks to delay in the production)
Profit/Loss ratio: Collected nearly Rs 30 Crores. Collections affected badly in Nizam after the controversies. Some distributors did profits in coastal Andhra district – like Nellore, Guntur. Others lost. Producers kept Nizam area and it brought only losses for them. Satellite Rights (Rs 4Crores) fetched big money to the producer.

2. Ye Maaya Chesave

Cost to producer: Made at a budget of Rs 10 Crore.
Profit/Loss ratio: Vizag distributor minted money. It created some records there. In Hyderabad too, it collected good money. On total, the movie went on to collect Rs 12 - 15 Crores. If it was not released in exams period, it would have collected more.

3. Darling

Cost to producer: Rs 18 Crores
Profit/Loss ratio: Initial talk was not encouraging but the film went on to become score good collections. It brought relief to its main distributor Dil Raju who lost heavily in other recent movies. In Nizam area, he nearly made Rs 4 Crores profit excluding his investment. In Vizag (Uttarandhra), Guntur, Godavari area too it collected well. Profit for distributors. |

4. Betting Bangarraju

Cost to producer: Rs 6 Crores
Profit/Loss ratio: Movie is completely distributed by Ramoji Rao’s Mayuri distributors and the producer made a cool Rs 4 Crores profit when we include satellite price too (which again taken by ETV).

Break-Even Movies

1. Leader
Made at Rs 11 Crs, the film finally able to recover the cost with satellite rights included. If it were made at much lower budget considering not a star cast that demands high remuneration, it would have been a hit financially.

2. Sambho Siva Sambho
Made at 14 Crores, the film was profitable venture for producer Bellamkonda even before its release. It lost heavily in Nizam and overseas but ran good in B and C centres. It is not a profitable film for distributors, nor they did loss on it much.

3. Bindaas
Bindaas had decent run but is not a profitable venture for producer as its budget is much more than the Manoj’s market. But again in Manoj’s career, it is better-collected movie and can be said average.

Current status on current movies..

1. Vedam

Vedam released to positive reviews but not really lapped up by the general public. It is a big hit for overseas distributor. But in Andhra Pradesh, distributors might loss despite good haul in the first week. Collections dropped drastically. It is still running so, the final result will be gauged only later. Reportedly made at Rs 16 Crores budget, producers could sell off handsomely before the release as it was touted to be multi-starrer with Allu Arjun and Anushka. Producers also made money by getting great price from Satellite rights (Rs 4 Crs).

2. Golimaar
Golimaar was panned by many and openings were poor compared to Puri’s earlier movies but it is drawing some good collections. Few more days will decide its real fate. Flop or break even. Made at Rs 14 Crore and sold in the same region, it needs another two or three weeks solid run.


Big Flops (means nearly total washouts)

1. Maro Charitra (Dil Raju did lost even print costs on this movie)
2. Varudu (Good first week but then utter flop)
3. KD (Producer almost lost 8 to 10 Crores)

Flops (but not so big losses)

1. Namo Venkatesha
2. Rama Rama Krishna Krishna

Films sank without a trace
1. Om Shanti
2. Seetharamula Kalyanam Lankalo
3. Taj Mahal
4. Young India

Critical praise, producers lost

1. Prasthanam (The film won rave reviews, but it didn’t fetch money for producer.)
2. Andari Bandhuvaya
Source:TC