Producer TG Vishwa Prasad is making new strides in the Telugu movie-making landscape. Handling commercial films with diverse storylines is his forte. Starting with Goodachari, his banner People Media Factory has achieved a reasonably good success rate with a bunch of movies across different genres. Karthikeya 2 and Dhamaka entered the league of Rs 100-crore club. In his recent media interaction, the producer spoke about his interests, goals, and the reason behind shelling out a hefty price for the theatrical rights of Adipurush in Telugu states.
You are producing a film with Prabhas. Then what made you purchase the rights of Adipurush, which was made by others?
It’s a business strategy. The teaser of Adipurush is visually gripping, and we felt that it would rake in huge moolah at the box office. We made the moves only after understanding the market dynamics. We have a sort of understanding with the T-Series that we may purchase their upcoming films and release them in the Telugu states.
How satisfied are you with your journey in Tollywood?
I have spoken about this previously too. We started the production business as a factory model and luckily achieved a good success rate. We are prepared to take both success and failure in the same breath. One needs to learn from their mistakes without worrying much about the result.
Once you said that your goal is to produce 100 films as quickly as possible. Don’t you think one might falter going at this pace?
That was the goal we set recently. It took almost five-plus years for us to produce 25 movies. By next year or so, we might reach the landmark of finishing 50 films. We are already done with 25 movies, and about four to five movies have been completed. Some 15 scripts are ready to go on floors. We will surely get another eight to ten films to reach the milestone 50 movies mark.
There has been a talk about heroes’ remuneration recently. Some are quoting the pay based on their non-theatrical films. How viable is it for you as a producer?
The availability is the key here more than the leverage. No producer would say no to a project because a hero is demanding more remuneration. We take up projects which we feel will be commercially viable.
Why is there a delay in the online advance bookings for Adipurush in the Telugu states?
Due to ticket prices, there is a delay in the commencement of bookings. The bookings will go live tomorrow in the Telugu states. We got permission to increase ticket rates by Rs 50 for single screens. But we are still considering whether to go with the hike of Rs 50 or Rs 25. Mostly we will go ahead with a Rs 25 hike. The prices in multiplexes won’t have a change. We are waiting for GO.
What are your biggest goals?
Our goal is to produce a PAN-world movie soon. I would probably go and produce Hollywood films in another two to three years. That will be our biggest goal.
There is a lot of talk going on about Adipurush. Lord Hanuman is allotted a seat, and heroes are purchasing and distributing tickets. Is this part of publicity?
The seat allotted to Lord Hanuman is based on faith and the story inspired by Ramayana. Heroes purchasing and distributing Adipurush tickets can be seen as a voluntary move.