Aravinda Sametha pre-release business: NTR's film fetches record price for overseas theatrical rights

The makers of Trivikram Srinivas' Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (ASVR) starring Jr NTR and Pooja Hegde have kick-started its pre-release business.  

Aravinda Sametha is five months away from its release date, but the hype surrounding it had created a huge demand for it overseas theatrical rights.

S Radhakrishna, who is bankrolling Aravinda Sametha under his banner Haarika & Hassine Creations‏, has confirmed that LA Telugu has acquired its overseas distribution rights. The producer tweeted on Sunday, "We are happy to announce that @latelugu will be distributing our Young Tiger #NTR @tarak9999 's #AravindhaSametha in Overseas. A Trivikram's Celluloid!"

LA Telugu, which earlier distributed Agnyaathavaasi overseas, is excited to bag the rights of Aravinda Sametha. Its bosses tweeted, "Glad to be associated with @haarikahassine for #AravindhaSametha... Thank you NTR garu, Trivikram garu, Radha Krishna garu, Vamsi garu and PDV Prasad garu. We believe that this Vijayadashami will be ours!!!"

The makers and distributors have not revealed the price of the overseas theatrical rights of Aravinda Sametha. But if we are to go by the sources from the industry, the movie has fetched Rs 13 to 15 crore from the rights. If it turns out to be true, it is a record price for a film starring Jr NTR.

Jr NTR's 2016 release Janatha Garage had fetched Rs 7.25 crore from its theatrical rights and the movie had earned Rs 8.88 crore for its distributors. His 2017 outing Jai Lava Kusa had earned Rs 8.65 crore from its overseas rights, but it only returned Rs 7.62 crore. Now, Aravinda Sametha needs to collect $3.5 million (Rs 23.60 crore gross) at the US box office alone if it needs to recover the investments of its distributors.

Aravinda Sametha is one of the most-awaited Telugu movies and two aspects have generated a lot of hype for the movie. Firstly, it brings Jr NTR and ace director Trivikram Srinivas together. Secondly, the young tiger has undergone a physical transformation for the film and his shirtless first look that shows him flaunting his six abs has gone viral on social media.

Aravinda Sametha went on floors on April 13 and the film was recently wrapped up after two small schedules. The makers have planned to complete its post-production soon and release it in the third week of October as a Dussehra treat for the fans of the Nandamuri family.