We are all living in uncertain times due to the pandemic. The film industry is undergoing turbulent times with no light at the end of the tunnel. Filmmakers who are sitting with their finished products for months together are worried about what is in store for them in the coming days. Meanwhile, there is an unbearable burden of the interests on the loans taken to complete the films.
OTT has come as a savior for such producers offering fancy prices for Direct-to-OTT releases. But then, the stars particularly from the South are extremely reluctant to allow the producers to take the route. They are forcing the producers to wait forever but then, at the same time, do not provide any assistance.
“The remunerations of the stars are the main problems for budgets in Telugu. These stars increase them for every film and are not allowing to release of the films on OTT. Producers are worried if they do not get dates of the stars for their next projects if they defy them. Some stars threaten not to complete the dubbing or not to promote the films if they take the OTT route,” a source in the Telugu film industry told us.
“In case they are not okay with OTT release, they should purchase the negative rights of the films from producers and wait endlessly. They do not do that because they are not sure as well and will not take the risk. They make producers scapegoats. They are selfish,” the source adds.