Senior Producer Suresh Babu has skipped the Pre-release Promotions of Drushyam 2 as he is infected by COVID-19. He spoke to M9.news today after recovering and spoke about many issues ranging from future of Cinema to the Governments’ attitude towards the industry.
“As of today, audience are coming to theaters only to watch spectacle films. Okay to average films are going to have a very tough time. OTT is the best option now. I have three films lined up. All of them are for OTT. I don’t care for anyone. I won’t lose money fearing what others think. But I care for industry as much as anyone,” he says.
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“Governments – be it state governments or the central governments are being very unfair to the industry. We have seen horrible fifteen months and the Governments have done nothing. AP Government has announced three months waiver for Minimum Power Demand Charges but the G.O. did not come yet. It is the same in Telangana as well,” Suresh Babu laments.
“I am feeling very sad for the independent theater owners. The Governments may think selling tickets at lower prices may increase their popularity with the people. But they are being very unfair to theaters especially the B&C. In 2000, we used to have 2900 theaters in AP and Telangana. Now they have come down to 1,750. They will come down further,” he adds.
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“Theater owner has to pay salaries. On the top of it, he has to pay minimum power demand charges and property taxes. We approached all the Governments but no one helped. I don’t know if they are indifferent or if there is a communication problem,” the Senior Producer says.
“I was in the meeting of the then Chief Minister Chenna Reddy when he convinced the industry to come to Hyderabad. Officials have said it will be a big financial loss if the Tax incentives are given. But he immediately said them not to think about finances and see the larger bigger picture of Hyderabad being the seat of Telugu cinema,” he revealed.
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“If Government is clever Hyderabad can be the seat of Indian Cinema. I believe KTR has a plan. Madhya Pradesh Government is rolling out red carpet for films. Our Governments should take a cue as well,” he says. Suresh Babu also revealed why he is being inactive in the talks with AP Government.
“I am skeptical since I am opting OTT releases for my films. Also, people are not in reality. I tell six months in advance what is going to happen next. People won’t like that reality,” he makes a veiled comments. Having said that he also revealed that three of his next films will release directly on OTT.