Andhra Pradesh has been in the news, with the demand for a separate state of Telangana triggering a political storm. The crisis has led to the closure of educational institutions, business establishments, single-screen cinema halls and multiplexes in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana, causing severe inconvenience, and the film industry is no exception.

Hyderabad, which contributes about 10 per cent of box office collections on a country-wide scale, has been badly hit. Consequently, collections of Hindi films such as Ratan Jain?s De Dana Dan and AB Corp?s Paa, which were expected to do well in the South, are facing a dreadful fate, for the time being at least.
As far as the Akshay Kumar-starrer De Dana Dan is concerned, it?s been a double whammy. The film was not doing well in Nizam and the political unrest has only made matters worse.

Distributor Dilip Tandon of Indra Films says, ?Though we were expecting a loss of around Rs 20 lakh from De Dana Dan. Now, the film has lost Rs 40 ? 45 lakh, which we hadn?t accounted for.? Worse, Tandon points out, the film is already in its third week and will soon be pulled off the marquee.

According to tradewallahs, the crisis has badly hit business in Telangana while in the Nizam circuit, Hyderabad city was worst hit. Kamal Gianchandani, Chief Operating Officer ? Distribution, BIG Pictures, elaborates, ?Nizam contributes 6-7 per cent of all-India box office collections. Around half our business in the Nizam territory has suffered a huge blow for three days now. But things are beginning to return to normal.?

Since Paa was released on December 4, and is expected to run in the cinema halls for two more weeks, distributors hope to make up for the unexpected losses.

?Audiences have liked Paa and people are looking forward to watching it. With things returning to normal in Hyderabad, the film should do better business in the next few days,? adds Gianchandani.