Rate hikes are a matter of demand and supply and therefore will vary from star to star. But what will not vary are the ever increasing production costs. If a leading hero increases his remuneration there will be a direct impact that (jittery) distributors have to bear. And cinema being what it is, there is absolutely no guarantee that a higher rate would ensure a higher quality of cinema and therefore higher turnout of crowds at the theaters. So all that the distributors have to go by is the supposed range of the said heroes; and this is where it gets tricky.

While all the heroes have increased their rates, it is by no means implied that their range in terms of reaching wider audiences has proportionately increased. So what this will mean is producers will be forced to make more small budgeted films. They will look for lesser known stars and concentrate more on story lines. Bhagyaraj on more than one occasion has admitted that he cast himself in the lead role after he found that he could not afford Kamal Hasan in his film! So may be Tollywood will unearth some fresh talent this year.

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