Most pan-Indian films currently under production, including those featuring Tier-2 stars, have little chance of recovering their costs through pre-release business deals. Producers are taking major risks as OTT deals have significantly reduced, while shooting expenses are exceeding planned budgets. This situation has become a serious concern for filmmakers.
In the Telugu states, films are usually sold on an outright basis. But in other language markets, buyers prefer advance-based deals. In the Hindi market, especially, generating strong buzz and big numbers requires something truly exceptional.
While heroes and directors remain confident about their pan-India projects, producers are increasingly worried. If these Pan-Indian films fail to create enough hype and business in other languages, Telugu market revenues alone may not be sufficient to recover the investment, potentially leading to heavy losses.
The “Pan-Indian” film trend gained significant momentum with the 2015 success of S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning. Although dubbed films were around before, this 2015 film introduced a new strategy of releasing high-budget, visually impressive movies simultaneously in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada, successfully turning regional content into national blockbusters. Recent examples include the Pushpa series, KGF series, RRR, Salaar, and Kalki.