The entire South Indian film industry was stunned when news broke out on Monday that Lyca Productions, the makers of Shankar’s 2.0, and Zee Network have struck a deal worth Rs 110 crores for the film’s satellite rights. As part of the deal, Zee has acquired the satellite rights for all its three versions – Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.
Although it’s considerably higher compared to every other deal in the past, the interesting part is Zee Network has control over the rights only for 15 years. Usually, producers end up giving away life-time rights to the TV channels when they strike such deals; however, Lyca Productions seems to have been very particular that don’t follow the same route.
Moreover, talks are on with both Netflix and Amazon India for the digital rights. On the other hand, buzz is that the Hindi theatrical rights alone could fetch another record sum for a South Indian film. 2.0 stars Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson in lead roles, and it’s slated for release in October this year.