C/o Kancharapalem, Chitram made with same budget?

Even though the makers claim that their recent release ‘C/o Kancharapalem’ was made with Rs 70 lakh, but an industry source revealed that the village-centric movie was wrapped up by just spending Rs 44 lakh by producer Praveen Paruchuri.“It will go down as one of low budget films in Telugu cinema since it was made with new faces and technicians and hence it was possible to stick to the stipulated budget. 

Despite a shoe-string budget, the director didn’t compromise on quality of the film,” adds the source. It was screened for umpteen people, before ace producer-distributor Suresh Babu took over the film and promoted it in a big way. “Suresh Babu wasn’t sure about the title and even thought of changing it but gave up his plan since the title spread into the market like wild fire by then,” the source points out. 

Interestingly, debutant director Maha Venkatesh matches up with director Teja, who also debuted with a low-cost film ‘Chitram’ in the year 2000. “Ramoji Rao asked Teja to complete the film within Rs 44 lakh and cinematographer-turned-director agreed for it. He paid actors like Uday Kiran and Reema Sen Rs 11,000 each for their debut flick and stuck to the budget,” the source points out. Although, 'Chitram’ struck gold at the box-office for its bold content, ‘C/o Kancharapalem’ drew critical acclaim and managed to cover its costs.