One of the producers of the recently released Nagarjuna starrer Officer, in an open letter to the media, accepted that the film had failed both creatively and financially. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the film had Nagarjuna and Myra Sareen in the lead.
The action entertainer, which hit theatres on June 1, did not get positive reviews right from the start. In the letter, producer Sudheer Chandra agreed that the film was not sold in a majority of areas.
Here’s the open letter from the producer that says it all:
Dear Media,
All those trade numbers that you are claiming that I've sold the film at are all false. Film failed and we are not denying that. Film failed both creatively and financially.. everyone involved with film emotionally, creatively and financially are at loss which can’t be denied.
Except the five districts in Andhra Pradesh, which was sold at a mere MG price because of the buyers involvement in the film from earlier, we ourselves released the film rest of the world.. I forced no one to buy this film nor lured anyone into buying it any given point.. the same media which claimed the film has no takers a week before the release now makes tall claims that I've sold the film at those nonsense prices putting us in profits..
Also there's no denying that there's lot of negativity prior to the release of the film. May or may not be because of the creative reasons.. end of the day, it's our duty to own up the film as makers and give it the best shot. Which we did.
There are many films being made and failing when the time comes... I would like to believe this is a special film for rgv, because of various reasons.. as far as creative is not concerned, where I come in the picture, we had to fight unimaginable negativity towards the film to put it out there... efforts were fruitful as far as releasing it is concerned... film didn't work may be because... creative didn't work or people choose to ignore it no matter what or people have already decided it's a bad film.. there could be some thousand reasons why a film didn't work.. as far as we are concerned, it's just that the film didn't work.
Hence, I request people who are claiming that we've sold the film at the kind of numbers that are doing rounds in the media to do some fact check before saying it out..
I know it kind of gives a sadistic pleasure for the people concerned to say whatever they are saying about the economics of the film the way they are right now..... if only any of those were true I would be ok with it. You may attack a film creatively because a film would hurt your senses... but all those finance related false claims should be put to rest.
We are in this business to make films. More and more of them. Some day in future would be ours too.. some day in the past could've been ours.. till then... Have fun!
Amen!
Sudheer Chandra
Meantime, a distributor named Subramanyam said that he would commit suicide because of Officer’s failure at the box office. He apparently addressed the media and said, “The makers of Officer approached me and asked for finance. I gave them Rs 1.3 crore. Ram Gopal Varma started the shoot and before the completion of Officer, when I contacted the makers and asked them to return my money, they did not respond. They also asked me to knock on the doors of the court. I thought, if I go to court, it will take a lot of time. So I decided to meet Ram Gopal Varma and asked for Officer rights for the Godavari area in lieu of my amount (sic).”
He added, “But clever director Ram Gopal Varma said to me, he would sell the rights of entire Andhra region, not just one area. Though I was not impressed with the trailer and teaser of Officer, I was forced to buy the film. Officer makers did not leave any option for me, so I paid a total of Rs 3.5 crore and bought the rights for Andhra region. I thought it’s a Nagarjuna film, so it could make good profits, but I was wrong.”
Officer was directed and produced by Ram Gopal Varma under his banner R Company Production. The film brought back Nagarjuna and Ram Gopal Varma after nearly 25 years.
(Content provided by Digital Native)