If the comments made by some Tollywood personalities like TG Vishwa Prasad in recent days are anything to go by, the Telugu film industry is a hotbed of scams. More than flops and disasters, what defines the industry are a slew of scandals minted by middlemen and others in broad daylight.
In a recent interview, Vishwa Prasad commented that what takes Rs 1 Cr for a Malayalam movie takes multiple times that amount in Tollywood. Even after spending all this, most small-scale and medium-range Telugu movies suffer from technical inferiority.
After the recent union strike was announced unilaterally, allegations have surfaced about how some groups extract lakhs of rupees in the form of membership fees from those who want to join their unions.
It is surprising that Tollywood has not been able to curb rampant corruption within the industry. As long as producers are ready to write paychecks without a care in the world, avaricious middlemen will continue to thrive. New producers are taken for a ride more than existing ones. This explains why most new producers don't last beyond one film.
