Shark Tank India: Anupam Mittal Criticizes Telugu Filmmakers Pitch, Reveals Losses in Raj and DK’s Early Projects

In the recent episode of Shark Tank India, Hyderabad-based director Raj Madiraju and producer Umamaheshwar Ch presented their new film, ‘Krishnrama,’ a sequel to their 2023 movie ‘Krishnarama,’ to the judges. They were seeking a Rs 2 crore investment in exchange for a 30% equity stake. The filmmakers emphasized the growing importance of small-budget films, but Anupam Mittal quickly identified a critical flaw in their pitch.

Aman Gupta was impressed to hear that the filmmakers had produced the movie for just Rs 2.62 crore and had already generated a profit of Rs 28 lakh even before its release. When Azhar Iqubal requested financial figures over viewership stats, the filmmakers discussed the revenue streams from the digital release of ‘Krishnarama’ and ticket sales, prompting Anupam to caution against equating viewership numbers with ticket prices. He explained that success in theaters requires significant marketing investments to attract audiences beyond the initial release weekend and relies heavily on positive word-of-mouth, making it impossible to accurately predict theatre revenue. He said, “When you are in theatres you get the window of a weekend which works through marketing, so you will have to spend more money on marketing than the money you spent on production to drive audiences and then hope that word of mouth will carry the film. So to assume how much the film will drive in the theatres is not possible.”

As the scrutiny of the project continued, Vineeta Singh expressed her confusion about why the filmmakers were seeking funding on Shark Tank India, questioning if they had not explored other funding avenues. Anupam Mittal reflected on his past experience of supporting directors Raj and DK, recalling how he had invested and ultimately lost money in some of their earlier projects, “Nobody makes money in this business. I want to thank you because you’ll made me nostalgic. Today Raj and DK have become Bollywood’s biggest directors, they are amongst the top, and they had pitched me a film that was exactly this. They made the film in the US, and from there we went on to make another film as well. Raj and DK became the top Bollywood directors but I lost all the money. So I studied a lot in depth,” he added.

Anupam elaborated on the financial challenges in the film industry, noting that many producers end up in debt. He clarified that while he hadn’t been scammed, he recognized that both himself and directors Raj and DK had been inexperienced and learning along the way. When Aman Gupta inquired about the amount of money lost, Anupam disclosed that it was a considerable sum in crores.

Subsequently, Namita Thapar and others teased Anupam good-naturedly. Vineeta jokingly suggested casting Anupam as the hero in the filmmakers’ project, leading to laughter all around. In response, Anupam quipped, “I don’t do Bollywood or Tollywood, only Hollywood.” Despite the light-hearted banter, none of the ‘sharks’ opted to invest, resulting in the filmmakers leaving empty-handed.