For example, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar's recent film 'Rowdy Rathore' was made on a moderate budget of Rs. 45 crore. The Satellite rights of the film were sold for a massive Rs. 37 crore, Video rights for Rs. 7 crore and Music rights for Rs. 3 crore respectively. These figures clearly show that the film entered into profit zone without even selling its theatrical rights.
Coming to Tollywood, a Top Hero's film will be made on a budget of nearly Rs. 35-40 crores. While the Satellite rights fetch anywhere between Rs. 5-7 crore, the Music rights will be sold for Rs. 1-2 crore. These figures clearly show that nearly 80% of the production cost should be recovered through Satellite Rights and post release business in Tollywood.
Despite Mahesh Babu being the No.1 hero in Tollywood, the satellite rights of 'SVSC' were sold out for Rs 7 crore, which is also the highest amount paid for a Telugu film till date. On the other, Akshay Kumar is not a No.1 in Bollywood, but his films were making moolah. It's not Akshay's films alone, but all Top Heroes films in Bollywood fetch Rs. 30 to 40 crore through Satellite rights. The price of Satellite rights make a big difference in Tollywood & Bollywood. But still, Tollywood (3 films [Magadheera, Dookudu, Gabbar Singh] in Rs. 100 crore club(gross)) is giving a tough fight to Bollywood.