How many people go to the theatre nowadays to watch a movie? Barring a Mahesh Babu or Pawan Kalyan flick, all other movies are struggling to get half decent openings. And part of the reason has to do with the steep hike in ticket prices and the urbanization of the movie-going experience. In short, cinema which was once the common man’s escape from the travails of daily life, a simple pleasure is now an unaffordable luxury. Assume that a middle-class couple went to IMAX or another multiplex with their two children. The tickets alone would come to Rs 600-1000. And the parking charges for their bike or four -wheeler apart from the cost incurred for refreshments, all accompanied by the eternal VAT add up to a princely sum. Instead, he would be better off downloading the movie from the internet and watching it at home. The experience of watching the pirated version of a movie might not beat the one at a cinema hall, but it is better to have ‘Vada Paav’ at Gokul Chat rather than eat an idli at Hyaat. It will be far easier on the pocket, experience be damned! Or better still, wait for the television premiere.
Representatives of Tollywood will now be meeting KCR to demand a hike in price of tickets at single-screen theatres. The highest ticket price at a single screen theater will become Rs 125 on par with multiplexes. The film industry also wants flexibility in pricing. This means, theatres can increase the price of tickets during weekends which means that the prices might be further increased for a hit film during weekends. In addition to the proposal to hike the ticket price from Rs 70 to Rs 125, it is also being planned to increase the lowest ticket rate from Rs 10 to Rs 30. In short, the industry is doing everything it can to commit suicide. If the ticket hike takes place, it will be a death blow to small films. They struggle to get theatres for release and even if they get the odd multiplex or single-screen now, who will shell out that kind of money to watch newcomers? This seems to be a ploy to protect the branded personalities of Tollywood. The industry should take such steps as would result in the masses coming back to theatres, steps which would make cinema once again within reach of the common man. Instead, they are going about in the exact opposite direction. Is it any wonder than that piracy is on the increase apart from a decline in the number of movie-goers?