Hyderabad:The government’s decision to freeze lucrative shows and ticket price hikes for films will affect upcoming big-budget films like Ram Charan starrer ‘Game Changer’, Balakrishna’s ‘Daku Maharaj’ and Venkatesh’s ‘Sankrantiki Othanam’.
The government’s move, aimed at curbing fatal incidents and regulating prices, has raised concerns among filmmakers and producers about its impact on the box-office collections of high-budget blockbusters.
Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy announced a sweeping ‘ban’ on benefit programs after a 39-year-old housewife died at Sandhya Theater during the Pushpa-2 special screening on December 6. He repeated it on the House floor Saturday. He said that the government wants to make the facility of watching cinema in the hall cheaper and safer for the audience.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Exhibitors Association has welcomed the move. Its president Vijendra Reddy, speaking to Deccan Chronicle, explained how the fluctuation in ticket prices confuses the audience, especially middle-class people and students, and upsets the students who form the majority of moviegoers.
“In the first three to four days of release, middle class people, students and small working fans mostly watch the movie. It is unfortunate to charge them more,” he added.
He also said that the association has appealed to Telangana State Film Development Corporation President Dil Raju to intervene and ensure that the ticket prices do not hurt people’s pockets.
A theater owner in Miryalaguda explained how the high ticket prices could not benefit anyone.
“Even with high collections, theaters don’t earn much. For example, with normal ticket prices, we get 15,000 towards rent. When prices increase, distributors pressure us to reduce rent, so in the end we don’t earn any extra money,” he said.
Opposing this move of the government, producer Hemath Madhukar said, “There are many businesses that decide their own prices, we should have the same right. The government has taken this decision because of the rush, but it will affect our upcoming films, especially the big budget ones.”
Incidentally, many of Tollywood’s recent films have been made on a budget of `200 crore to `400 crore, including ‘Deora: Part 1’; ‘Guntur Karam’; ‘Salar’ and ‘Game Changer’. Many industry pundits are concerned that filmmakers will ever get their money back, let alone make a profit.
Madhukar said that the government should pay attention to reducing the high prices of food sold inside cinema halls. Sankranti has always been a hot season for Tollywood films as many films are lined up for release around Sankranti for an ‘auspicious’ start.
Experts say that this decision of the government will pose a financial challenge for filmmakers, while from the film sector, there is concern that this policy will destroy the chances of success of big projects in the future.