After Vijay achieved a massive political victory in Tamil Nadu and officially became Chief Minister, all attention has now shifted toward his final film Jana Nayagan.
The political wave surrounding Vijay has dramatically increased the film’s hype, emotional value, and market potential across South India.
Directed by H. Vinoth, the film is currently gearing up for release soon.
Industry insiders say the makers are planning a massive pan-India release in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and several other languages. However, alongside the excitement, another major discussion has now started within distribution circles regarding the extremely high prices being quoted for theatrical rights.
Vijay enjoys a decent market in the Telugu states, but mainly with big directors like Atlee or Lokesh Kanagaraj. Now, with the additional political craze and the emotional factor of this potentially being his last film, the makers are reportedly demanding a massive price for the Telugu rights.
While producers are reportedly ready to pay up to Rs. 15 crores, the makers are said to be quoting nearly Rs. 35 crores, which many feel is too huge for a film reportedly inspired by Bhagavanth Kesari.
Many Telugu distributors reportedly remain uncertain whether audiences will come to theatres in huge numbers for another version of Bhagavanth Kesari just because Vijay has now become the CM of Tamil Nadu.
Trade analysts are now carefully calculating whether the massive investment being demanded can realistically recover within the Telugu states alone. A Rs. 35-crore recovery would require Jana Nayagan to gross more than Rs. 60 crores in Telugu markets, which many observers feel is extremely difficult for a remake whose HD print has already been leaked many weeks ago.
That uncertainty is reportedly slowing down negotiations despite the enormous craze surrounding Vijay’s political victory and the “final film” sentiment attached to the project.
Will any Telugu distributor finally agree to the gigantic deal currently being demanded by the makers for the Telugu theatrical rights? We have to wait and see.
