'Lakshya', starring Naga Shaurya, will be released in theatres on December 10. It has been produced by Narayan Das K. Narang, Puskur Ram Mohan Rao, and Sharrath Marar.
In this interview, the producers throw light on the nature of the film, the immense effort put in by the 'Varudu Kaavalenu' actor, the ticket prices issue in Andhra Pradesh, online ticketing system, and more.
Excerpts:
We were tense before 'Love Story' was released in theatres. We are glad the audience came to the theatres and watched the movie in a big way. The audience supported us in every way during the pandemic. Every Friday is a new Friday. This Friday, we are releasing 'Lakshya' and it's an authentic sports film. This is one of the very few true-blue sports films to have been made in Tollywood.
In 'Sye!', Rajamouli garu introduced Rugby to the audience. 'Lakshya' has the Archery backdrop. This is director Santossh's second movie. The sport is not hugely popular and you need emotions for the audience to connect with the film. It's not a marathon sport, unlike cricket. Sharrath Marrar of NorthStar Entertainments collaborated with us on the project and he took care of the execution.
Naga Shaurya voluntarily went in for the 8-pack-abs look. It's not easy at all. You need to sustain it for a long time, especially because the shoot happened on and off due to the pandemic.
'Lakshya' is definitely a commercial film where Archery is integral to the story. It's about the ups and downs of a sportsperson. We are releasing in about 250 theatres in the Telugu States. In the US, it will be out in about 100.
Regardless of the budget, the audience won't watch it if the content is not strong. A small film like 'Jathi Ratnalu' collected more than Rs 50 Cr. Everything depends on the content of your movie.
Online ticketing is simple. The Andhra Pradesh government wants transparency. Taxes have to be paid to the government, right? The producers are absolutely safe in the new system. Every ticket sold will be accounted for. In Telangana, 80% of theatres have been integrated with the online system.
The low ticket prices in AP are definitely a pain point. We need to work out. There needs to be coordination between the film industry and the AP government. If you take Maharashtra, Karnataka and a couple of other States, the ticket prices are up to Rs 500 on weekends. In AP, the ticket rates have to reach a reasonable level. I haven't met anyone in the government there. But negotiations must be going on.
Till Summer 2022, the most important movies are going to be released in theatres. If the ticket prices are not upgraded, revenues will definitely be affected negatively.
Telangana has got the best theatres in the country in terms of customer experience. This has been done keeping customer experience.
We have a film lined up with Sekhar Kammula sir. It will be a Telugu-Tamil bilingual. We have a film with Sudheer Babu and director Harshavardhan in Telugu. A film with Sundeep Kishan-Vijay Sethupathi duo in Tamil is also there. We are producing 'The Ghost' with Akkineni Nagarjuna garu. We have shot it for 20 days already.
