As the market for Telugu films in overseas territories has flourished by leaps and bounds like never before, the revenues earned through overseas theatrical rights have turned out to be one of the major sources for recouping the investment made by producers. This is reason why our filmmakers quote exorbitant amounts for the overseas rights.
Till recently, overseas distributors used to fall in the trap of our producers as they bagged films for steep and ridiculous prices. Due to their incautious business strategies, most of the time overseas distributors used to end up with losses as they failed to recover their investments.
But, that scenario has now changed completely. Overseas buyers have finally turned to act smart. They are reluctant to shell out money when producers are quoting unreasonable prices for overseas rights.
Some of the recent films like Naa Peru Surya, Sammohanam, Kaala, Mehabooba etc were unsold in overseas as producers quoted a very high price. As no overseas distributor came forward to snap the rights, these films were released directly by the producer. Even Ram Charan’s upcoming film with Boyapati Srinu is struggling to find distributors as the producer is quoting a ridiculous amount for overseas rights.
Trade analysts opine that gone are the days when distributors used to fall for heady combinations and previous track records. Now, no distributor is willing to take the risk and pay exorbitant prices for overseas theatricals. They are smart enough to avoid unreasonable business deals.