The coronavirus pandemic will leave an unforgettable impact on Telugu cinema. With several lives shattered without work, several producers and filmmakers are in financial stress. The situation of the exhibitors is miserable as the theatres are closed since March. The actors and directors are confident that things would return back to normal from next year. But there is a discussion of digital release for selected films in the upcoming years as the digital experience is here to stay and it will make the audience comfortable. The big-budget films and those with stars will not be impacted.

But the small budget films and those featuring new faces will find it tough to survive. For those films, digital release and pay per view will be a very good option. Some of the filmmakers are planning films on a crisp budget so that they can recover their budget with digital rights alone. The other non-theatrical rights like the satellite, audio and the Hindi dubbing deals can leave them in decent profits. If the digital platforms are stressed buying the digital rights of the films in the future, some of the producers are keen to propose the ‘Pay per View’ procedure for Telugu audience. The discussion about this is happening among the Tollywood producers. This would be beneficial for the producer as well as the digital platforms if the film receives positive response.

Tollywood audience will witness several changes in the coming years and the digital platforms will take over major space and will turn the major option for medium and small budget films.