'War 2' Telugu distributor on box office failure - "I and NTR trusted Aditya Chopra and Yash Raj Films blindly but.....'

War 2 was one of the most hyped Indian films of the year. Apart from the sequel to Yash Raj Films' hugely popular Spy Universe, having an action hero from north India in Hrithik Roshan and one from south India in Jr NTR meant that the project had immense buzz around it when it was announced. 

 

However, right from the promos till the release and post-release, War 2 went off the blocks completely. The action thriller barely had any buzz when compared to previous YRF action films in recent years at the time of release and clashing with Rajinikanth's Coolie also didn't help. Eventually, the film made at a budget of over Rs 300 crore could only manage a worldwide gross of Rs 369 crore, incurring big losses.

 

One of the distributors who lost heavily was Naga Vamsi, popular producer/distributor in the Telugu film industry. He took the entire rights of War 2 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at a combined rate valued to be around Rs 85 crore. It was a massive amount, especially given that this wasn't a direct Telugu film. Eventually, the film bombed in its Telugu version and burnt a hole in Vamsi's pocket.

 

"Mistakes happen, it's human nature. We made a mistake," said Vamsi at a press meet for his upcoming Ravi Teja film Mass Jathara.

 

"Be it myself or NTR garu, we both trusted in Aditya Chopra's reputation. Mistakes happen to everyone, unfortunately this time, it was at our expense. He is one of the biggest producers in India but what can we do."

 

War 2's telugu version could only muster Rs 56 crore nett making it an all-time disaster in Telugu states. On realising the state of affairs, YRF had stepped up and paid Vamsi with a compensation of Rs 22 crore, although the overall losses were a lot more than that in the end.

 

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