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Blockbuster: Magadheera

Super hits: Arundhati, Kick

 

This year, Magadheera is a blockbuster abroad too. Other films that were big hits abroad were Arundhathi and Kick. Thus, these three films made profits to distributors as well as to the exhibitors, both in India and abroad. Most other films resulted in heavy losses for the exibitors and sometimes for the distributors too.

 

Film distribution became a big gamble this year. Distributors kept raising the prices of overseas distribution rights irrespective of the film hero's potential to draw crowds. At the same time, small films do not have any exhibitors. As usual, they invest on crazy combinations, which do not work always. The simple answer we hear all the time is that the director or hero gave a flop last time, and thus everyone worked hard to make this film a success. "pOyina saari flop meeda unna kasitO eesaari baagaa teestaaDu anukunTunnaam anDii!" are the exact words we hear all the time, but the director relieves his "kasi" on the audience yet again, and again, and again. For instance, Puri Jagannath did not register any hits overseas after Pokiri, and Krissnavamsi didn't have any hits after Murari abroad.

 

Another problem with abroad distribution is online piracy. Even for an average film, a good-quality print appears online the same weekend when a new film releases! This mars the collections in small centers where the film didn't release in the first week. The producers mostly will not respond properly most of the times, but the situation is somewhat better in 2009 than last year. Online piracy of films like Josh, Arundhati, Ganesh, etc. were controlled but films like Arya-2 or Magadheera were not. They are available by the fourth day of the films' release. Most big films were released overseas with more than 20 prints in order to capture openings at most centers so that the distributors and exibitors are not put to total loss if the film has the above average talk and/or ratings. However, the prints costs and shipping problems add to the already heavy costs for the overseas distribution rights. If the film had a big hero to boast about, such film was sold at no less than one crore rupees for overseas screening. The distributors don't reconsider even if the director had given flops before and simply grab films for the higher and higher prices!

 

No producer seems to take enough care to ensure that the prints reach their overseas distributors on time. Firstly, the exact date of release is always a doubt, and next, dispatching the prints is neglected. They do not seem to realize that prints should first reach New York or another such port of entry and then be dispatched from there to all other centers within the USA. The exhibitors lose huge sums of money even if one show is put to loss. TeluguCinema.Com had previously mentioned this problem and also the fact that several audience travel hundreds of miles for that show only to learn that the show has been cancelled due to non-availability of prints. Sometimes, the prints that are sent abroad have scratched discs or missing reels (as has happened with Magadheera), causing inconvenience to audience and loss to the exhibitors. Will the producers ever listen to these pleas and woes that we pour out here on behalf of the overseas exhibitors, distributors, and the audience?

 

Another problem is with the exibitors. Even though they know the film might not be worth buying at sky-high prices, they just go for it. Most of the times, three or four people pool up to buy a film for their area, so that the losses can be shared; it's rare to gain profits these days anyway! (As a matter of fact, except for Magadheera, Arundhati, and Kick, most of the film exhibitors tasted only losses this year!) Strangely, they don't seem to learn a lesson there! They simply blame the distributor and demand that they should be compensated by giving the next film for cheaper price. The distributors don't get such a deal from producers in India, because the producers are ready to sell to any Tom, Dick, and Harry that'd offer more money!

 

Of course, there's no pressure on anyone to go buy at such prices. After all, it's purely a business. What's different here is that the privileges that the distributors or exhibitors can get in India are lacking abroad. In India, the producer is forced to give the next film to the same distributors or exhibitors who lost money on the previous film from that producer. With no association or even unity among distributors outside India, the producers simply have an advantage point in the business, and then why blame someone who's using one's advantage? It's purely business, after all, to everyone!

 

Another problem is with the theaters. Most theaters abroad have cheap quality seats and sound system. Now, after Adlabs has taken over some theaters, there's some relief to audience, thanks to rennovations to theaters! Though screening in such theaters has its advantages, such as using less-cumbersome digital prints and getting exact another location, and we cannot screen in other locations where details of collections every weekend, there are some disadvantages too! Screening digital prints is cost-cutting but is not feasible in all locations, and thus the film can only be screened where they have theaters. Obviously, this is a major disadvantage. Another problem with theaters is that better and newer theaters are not rented out for Indian movie screening, as our audience are noted for improper maintenance of the theaters, throwing papers, spilling food, and other unclean habits. As a compromise, theaters in some areas charge around thirty to forty percent of collections and the exhibitor needs to pay the distributor for screening there which leaves a huge hole in their pockets. Still, our exhibitors will go for it sometimes just to see their name in various websites and/or get popular in the local community! "Is it really worthwhile?" is the million dollar question!

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