Dil Raju: Every big star must have one release every year

The producers and distributors of Sankranthiki Vasthunam, the latest Venkatesh starrer that has emerged as a massive hit, held a gratitude meet on Saturday. On the occasion, producer Dil Raju spoke about many things, including his learnings from the film’s success and his equation with director Anil Ravipudi.

Anil Ravipudi and Dil Raju have worked on 6 films so far, Sankranthiki Vasthunam included, and all of them have been commercial hits. Addressing the media, Dil Raju stated, “Stories are more important than budget, we often forget. Since last 4-5 years, we have been chasing combination projects — but Anil has brought us back to the route, showing us the right path.” 

The producer also spoke about the struggles and dilemmas faced by film distributors, especially in such an atmosphere when most films fail at the box office. He added, “Usually, distributors are forced to publish ‘superhit’ posters for their films even when facing losses. Distribution system has changed so much. Even the successful films barely end profitable for 1-2 distributors in a territory. This is an industry with 90% failures. ”

Dil Raju was also the producer for Ram Charan’s Game Changer, another Sankranthi release which performed underwhelmingly at the box office. Talking about the low success rate of the industry and the crucial factors behind it, the producer said, “Because of increased budgets, most big stars are now focusing on one project at a time, often taking 2 years for a film. So if that one project doesn’t work, it does a lot of damage. So it that begins happening and corrections are made, that’s the only solution and will lead to bigger chances of success. Prabhas is doing 3 films now, Allu Arjun has expressed his desire to work on 2 films at once. By 2026-27, every big star must have 1 release every year.”

Meanwhile, Sankranthiki Vasthunam is all set to cross the Rs 200 crore mark (gross) at domestic boxoffice on Saturday.