On Thursday, members of the Active Producer’s Guild, an organisation comprising of well-known producers of Tollywood, which was formed with the objective of ‘improving efficiency of film production through the process of self-regulation and collaboration,’ decided that all Telugu film productions would be tentatively seized from August 1 because producers of the film industry have expressed their desire to reduce the salary of actors and reduce production costs.
Producer Aswini Dutt reportedly told media sources on Thursday that he was unhappy with the decision of the organisation and also questioned the existence of the guild, which is represented by producer Dil Raju. He reportedly said, “These days, it has become a challenge to draw audiences to theatres. To an extent, the situation has come to this because the producers went to Chief Ministers seeking hikes in ticket rates. The audience are miffed with the fickle-mindedness over ticket prices. One time they want a hike. Another time, they want the rates to be reduced. (sic)”
Aswini also told media sources that his production house Vyjayanthi Movies would not be halting productions from August 1, as was instructed by the Guild.
The senior producer reportedly questioned the existence of the guild as there is already a body called The Telegu Film Chamber of Commerce that exists to address the problems faced by producers in the industry, as reported by media sources.
He reportedly said, “Those very people who run after governments to either decrease cinema ticket rates or increase them, are now talking about suspending shootings. The audience is disgusted about the high prices in canteens and is thinking twice about coming to theatres. (sic)”