There have been enormous shifts in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana theater business.
While there are still blockbuster movies, the average box office take for even the biggest stars' films has decreased in recent years.
The distributors are not willing to offer new record prices for even pan-Indian biggies like "Salaar" at the moment.
The film is one of the most-awaited projects with Prabhas playing the lead role and hotshot director Prashanth Neel helming it.
The movie, however, failed to break any records before the release. The pre-release business deals in AP and Telangana are no way comparable to those of "RRR," which was released shortly after COVID-19.
“Salaar” is likely to end its theatrical business in the range of Rs 170 crore in AP and Telangana, 40 crore less than “RRR”.
"Guntur Kaaram" may face similar issue.
According to industry analysts, distributors may be hesitant to offer big money to Mahesh Babu and Trivikram's film before its theatrical release because of the competition from other during the Sankranthi festival.
According to industry experts, distributors and buyers are wary of making big payments after seeing the disappointing returns of several big films in recent months.
