Before hitting the theaters, Sankranti movies have already completed their non-theatrical business deals. These films have earned significant amounts through satellite and digital rights. Meanwhile, leading the way in this non-theatrical business arena is Mahesh Babu.
For the film “Guntur Kaaram,” producers had decided to sell its non-theatrical rights for a whopping hundred crore rupees less than a year ago. This news had been circulating widely. Initially, there were talks that Zee Group might take up the movie. However, in a last-minute move, Gemini TV acquired the satellite rights, while Netflix secured the streaming rights. With these agreements, along with the audio rights, the filmmakers have met their target.
Another movie in the Sankranti lineup, “Hanu-Man,” found a home with Zee Telugu. The Zee Group lo the movie’s content and struck a deal during the shooting phase, showing faith in Prashant Varma. Firstly, they acquired the satellite and digital rights, and later also finalized non-theatrical deals for Kannada and Tamil versions, spending around 27 crore rupees on this film. This deal was closed even before the movie’s buzz started. Speculation suggests that if the film had been marketed after the teaser release, it could have easily fetched at least 50 crores.
ETV, a recent entrant into this race, has secured a Sankranti movie – Venkatesh’s landmark film “Saindhav,” which will be aired on ETV. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has obtained the streaming rights for this movie.
Additionally, the satellite and digital rights deal for Nag’s “Na Saami Ranga” was finalized recently. Star Maa and Disney Hot Star have acquired the rights, and the movie is set to hit theaters on the 14th of Sankranti.
Among the dubbed movies for Sankranti, Gemini TV has secured the satellite rights for “Ayalan,” while Amazon Prime acquired its streaming rights. All these movies set for Sankranti have completed their non-theatrical deals and are gearing up for their theatrical releases.
