Dil Raju puts a moratorium on buying films?

We were the first to report that the movie business is going to be completely changed for another year due to the coronavirus. No distributor will go for ‘NRA’ deals henceforth. Now, it’s happening.

Tollywood’s leading distributor and producer Dil Raju has decided not to buy any new movie for at least one year. He will continue to distribute films but on a profit-sharing basis. He will not buy new movies. It is a moratorium on buying the distribution rights!

Dil Raju’s money has been stuck in various projects.

Nani and Sudheer Babu starrer ‘V’ was to release on March 25 but since then it is waiting for theaters to reopen. He planned Pawan Kalyan’s comeback movie ‘Vakeel Saab’ as a quickie. Dil Raju agreed to pay Rs 1.5 Crore daily to Pawan Kalyan as his remuneration with the plan to wrap the entire shoot by April and release it on May 15. Now, he’s not sure when this film would hit the screens. Getting a big profit on this project has been ruled out.

Dil Raju is also producing ‘Jersey’ in Hindi with Shahid Kapoor. But his maiden Bollywood production is also hit by the current crisis

Dil Raju has paid a whopping advance amount to buy the distribution rights of Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ for the Nizam region. So, money has been stuck. He needs at least a year’s time to get out of all these problems and streamline the money flow. Dil Raju has informed his staff not to look for the distribution rights of new movies henceforth. 

This is a big blow to the industry. He is Tollywood’s leading producer and distributor. When Dil Raju himself hesitates to buy films, other distributors would not come forward to quote big prices.