Producers in Tollywood are eager to take on as many projects as possible, which has led to a significant increase in heroes' remunerations. These days, booking a top hero requires a minimum of five crores.
Even heroes who have experienced flops are demanding hefty fees. However, the challenge lies in the fact that most heroes' remunerations are not in line with their films' theatrical collections.
Only a handful of heroes have films that command theatrical rights worth over Rs 100 crore. Take Nani, for example—a hero considered promising in Tollywood.
The theatrical rights for his films in the Telugu states are sold for around Rs 25 crore, but even with positive word of mouth, the share collections often fall short of that figure. Yet, Nani’s current remuneration is reportedly around Rs 35 crore.
Similarly, Ravi Teja charges Rs 25 crore, though his theatrical market doesn’t exceed Rs 20 crore, making his remuneration disproportionate to his box office performance.
Many other actors demand around Rs 10 crore, yet their theatrical market only generates Rs 7-8 crore.
These actors are securing large paychecks by leveraging the non-theatrical market, such as satellite rights and OTT deals.
However, even this market is insufficient to cover their remunerations and overall production costs. As a result, producers are left to rely on theatrical collections, which often fall short, leading to significant losses.
What’s even more surprising is that, despite being aware of these risks, producers continue to compete with each other, offering exaggerated remunerations to heroes, further inflating production costs.
Even after facing consecutive flops, producers are going bankrupt, losing crores, while hero remunerations remain sky-high.
Many heroes seem to be taking advantage of this situation, capitalizing on the inflated market while they can.
With the OTT market evolving rapidly, this trend may soon change. If the situation continues, many heroes may either find themselves without work or be forced to lower their asking prices.
