Now the situation is changing. The Tamil film industry has introduced new rules where medium and big budget films will follow a revenue sharing model between stars and producers.
This shift will directly affect heroes who have been accustomed to earning massive upfront fees.
Over the years, with the rise of OTT platform rights and the free spending approach of producers, many stars earned hundreds of crores per film and became used to spending more time on personal life and foreign trips than on work.
Top stars usually take up one film in two years, often in the name of large scale pan India projects. These films involve investments of hundreds of crores, with a major portion going toward star remuneration, sometimes exceeding 70 percent of the total budget.
With the introduction of reduced upfront pay and a profit sharing model, actors may now be pushed to work on more films each year to maintain their income levels.
In earlier decades, legends like Chiranjeevi, Krishna, NTR and ANR worked on multiple films every year,in their prime time.
This consistency not only helped them earn well but also benefited theatres by ensuring a steady flow of crowd pulling content.
Audiences naturally gravitate toward big stars, and they are less likely to visit theatres for films featuring newcomers.
In recent years, many theatres have struggled or even shut down due to the lack of regular, high quality releases from major stars.
Apart from festive seasons like Sankranti, when big releases are clustered together, theatres often face losses for the rest of the year due to inconsistent footfall.
If the Tamil film industry model spreads fully to the Telugu film industry, it could mark a positive turning point for theatres and exhibitors.
A higher number of star led films released throughout the year would improve occupancy and revenue. However, this also means that heroes will need to work harder and take on more projects to sustain their earnings under the new system.
