The year 2025 has turned out to be a major setback for the Telugu film industry, especially after nearly eight years of strong theatrical expansion and record-breaking revenues from the non-theatrical market.
In the post-COVID period, Telugu cinema benefitted immensely as OTT platforms aggressively acquired streaming rights, often at inflated prices.
However, the OTT landscape has changed significantly. Major platforms have become far more cautious and have drastically cut back on spending.
Even reputed production houses have been taken aback by the relatively lower prices quoted for their films. In such a scenario, it is misleading and irresponsible to propagate claims that certain films have secured “record-breaking” OTT deals.
Last month, several media outlets and social media handles hyped reports suggesting that SS Rajamouli had rejected an ₹800 crore OTT offer, supposedly waiting for an even bigger deal. This narrative appears nothing more than a promotional gimmick.
No OTT platform would realistically pay such an exorbitant amount, especially when the film’s production budget itself does not justify it.
If such an offer were genuinely on the table, it is highly unlikely that any filmmaker; including Rajamouli; would turn it down.
Now, similar buzz is being created around the Allu Arjun–Atlee film, with claims that Netflix has closed an OTT deal worth ₹600 crore. This too seems exaggerated.
To put things in perspective, the biggest OTT deal for a Telugu film so far remains Pushpa 2, which reportedly fetched around ₹270 crore.
More recently, Netflix paid approximately ₹285 crore for Dhurandhar—and that too after the film emerged as a mega blockbuster.
Even under the most optimistic assumptions, it is unrealistic to expect OTT platforms to go beyond the ₹300–350 crore range for Telugu films, including projects headlined by Allu Arjun or directed by SS Rajamouli.
By floating figures like ₹600 crore and ₹800 crore, certain media outlets and social media handles are not just misleading audiences but are also causing long-term damage to industry perception and expectations.
Such inflated narratives create false benchmarks and only worsen the gap between hype and market reality.
