'Advance' Risks In Tollywood: Senior Directors Are Very Smart

Back in the day, top Telugu film directors used to work on two or three movies a year and some even handled up to five projects at a time. Producers would quickly pay them advances to lock their dates and later find suitable heroes for the projects.

But things have changed in recent years. With the rise of the pan-India trend, movies have become bigger in scale and more time-consuming. Large budgets, long shooting schedules, and massive promotional plans now make it impossible for directors to handle multiple projects at once.

Because of this, even leading filmmakers like Sukumar, Trivikram Srinivas, and S.S. Rajamouli are being more careful about taking multiple advances or committing to many producers. Earlier, taking several advances was common, but it has now become risky.

If one project gets delayed or faces problems, the director’s schedule becomes stuck, and the other producers who gave advances start facing losses or confusion.

Today, even if a producer pays an advance, it does not guarantee that the project will take off. Heroes are also very selective about which director and story they want to work with. As a result, directors are now focusing on one movie at a time to avoid unnecessary pressure and maintain quality.

This new trend has brought major changes to the Telugu film industry. It may have slowed down the number of movies made by top directors, but it has improved planning, reduced financial risks, and increased the focus on quality and audience expectations.