Two films "Power Star" and "Prannageevi" were released on the same day on 25th July at 11 AM on two different ATT platforms.
One is Ram Gopal Varma's film on Pawan Kalyan and the other is a film on Ram Gopal Varma by a Pawan Kalyan's fan.
Lot of hungama has happened on both the films in mainstream and social media. Ram Gopal Varma has given umpteen number of interviews to every media channel.
Amidst a lot of hype both the films were released. It is already known that Power Star would sell more tickets when compared to Parannageevi for obvious reasons.
Our sources have probed into the details of how both the films performed with regard to collections.
The reason for this probe is to know how the ATTs perform and how far these ATTs can be considered as saviors for the Telugu Film Industry down the line.
As per an unconfirmed report, Power Star has collected somewhere around Rs 2 Crore, slowed down by the evening of day of release and almost stopped later.
The reason for sudden cease in collections by evening is due to the piracy video that has circulated in almost all the mobiles through whatsapp.
When the direct video comes into whatsapp, who will take the pain of going to the portal to pay and watch.
Had it been a piracy link, some people might have hesitated fearing the infringement of virus or malware. But when it is the direct video, who can stop the temptation to watch it instantly?
Adding to that, the film being a 37 minute short film, whatsapp forward has become easily possible. Had it been a full length film, the damage would have been lesser.
But the plight of "Parannageevi" is quite miserable. A source said that 10000 tickets were sold and another source said that not more than 5000 people have bought and watched.
That way, considering the price of ticket at Rs 100, the film has collected either around Rs 5 lakh or Rs 10 lakh. But the pity is the link hasn't worked since the evening of 25th, due to some technical glitch, killing the film forever.
We can say that RGV hasn't invested much time and energy in making "Power Star". But the kind of efforts he put in to promote it facing the physical attacks on office, vulgar words from fans and ire of bigwigs in the film industry is hard to measure.
If this is the only way to make a Rs 2 Crore - Rs 3 Cr collection, then ATT is only for RGV. But still, he cannot continue to see these figures for each and every film he makes.
If the film fails to draw people's attention, it cannot be sold. If it catches attention, the piracy video on whatsapp will put full stop to desirable collections.
If this is the case of collections after this much of hype, how can ATTs stand as an alternative for theatres? That's the case study.
Disclaimer: The collections discussed here are only from the sources we have. The actual figures can only be known officially from the platform owners, if they decide to announce. Until then, we have no other way than believing in the above figures to discuss the prospects of ATTs.