Producer Ravi Shankar Addresses Telugu Films' Screen Allocation Woes in Tamil Nadu

In the lead-up to the Diwali festival in 2025, the screen allocation for Telugu films in Tamil Nadu has emerged as a point of contention. Producer Ravi Shankar, known for the Tamil film 'Dude', has responded to recent comments made by Telugu actor Kiran Abbavaram regarding the struggle to secure adequate theatre screens for his upcoming film 'KA'.

Ravi Shankar explained that the Diwali season, being the biggest festival in Tamil Nadu, sees a high concentration of major film releases across languages. With only around 700-800 theatres available in the state, compared to approximately 1,800 in the Telugu states, the competition for screens becomes intense. This often results in limited initial screen allotment for each film, irrespective of the language.

The producer emphasized that the eventual distribution of screens is primarily determined by how well a film performs with the audience. "Even if a film gets few screens initially, the number of screens keep getting adjusted depending on word-of-mouth, and keeps getting shifted from one film to another. You give the best content, and hit content, and you can take the screens," he stated.

Ravi Shankar expressed a pragmatic approach, noting that he is open to reallocating screens to other films should they outperform his own. "'Dude' is an extraordinary, blockbuster-level film. But if a film is better than this, we are most welcoming and will have no problem allotting our screen share to that film," he added.

The producer's remarks come as several Telugu films, including 'K-Ramp', 'Mithra Mandali', and 'Telusu Kada', are scheduled to release around the Diwali period, further intensifying the competition for screens in Tamil Nadu.