How will 'Brahmotsavam,' 'Sardar Gabbar Singh' failure at box office affect Tollywood in Karnataka?

The recent big-ticket Telugu releases, "Brahmotsavam" and "Sardar Gabbar Singh" (SGS), have made poor collections at the Karnataka box office. Their failure is likely to provide some food for thought for everyone associated with the business of Tollywood.

The Karnataka distribution rights of "Sardaar Gabbar Singh" were bagged by Mars for a whopping price of Rs. 8.50 crore, and it released the film in a record number of screens across the state on April 8. The movie had a brilliant opening, but failed do well in the following days. The film has collected Rs. 9.30 crore at the Karnataka box office in its life time and earned Rs. 4.55 crore for its distributors.

G7 Entertainers Syndicate is said to have acquired the Karnataka theatrical rights of "Brahmotsavam" for Rs. 7 crore. Like Pawan's film, the Mahesh Babu starrer, which was released on May 20, opened to a good response, but failed to fare well at the ticket counters. The film collected Rs 6.70 crore gross at the Karnataka box office in its life time and earned Rs. 3.65 crore for its distributors, according to a report.

Observers from the industry say several reasons contributed to the failure of the two films. Both the movies were over-hyped, which increased the demand for their theatrical rights. Some new distributors' entry resulted in over-pricing of their theatrical rights. There is no cap on ticket price in the state and the high ticket price made many viewers stay away. The word-of-mouth response was also not favourable for them.

"Inexperienced people enter the distribution business with hopes of earning big money in a short time. Newcomers quote fancy amounts without studying the market and doing proper research on how the business works here. This is resulting in huge losses," an insider from the industry told International Business Times India.

"Brahmotsavam" and "Sardar Gabbar Singh" are estimated to have together incurred a huge loss of Rs. 7.30 crore for their Karnataka distributors. "Their poor performance has surely shocked some distributors and it will be a lesson for the distributors when they buy the rights of any big-ticket Telugu films in future," the insider added.