Andhra Pradesh govt revises movie ticket prices

The Andhra Pradesh government has issued a new order revising the low-cap on movie ticket prices. The previous order by the government had set the ticket prices at some theatres in gram panchayat areas as low as Rs 5. The government’s regulations added to the woes of the film industry which is still reeling under the losses incurred by coronavirus-induced lockdown. After months of negotiations and discussions, the government has increased the base ticket price across different categories of theatres. However, the new order comes with a bunch of conditions. The new rates are exclusive of GST but inclusive of theatre maintenance charges (Rs 3 for non-AC, Rs 5 for AC) and they also include the fee for online ticketing services.

After COVID-19 hit India, many AP theatre owners were forced to shut down their multiplexes after facing tremendous loss due to the fixed movie ticket rates. Prominent film industry including Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu, Kortala Siva and SS Rajamouli met Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy last month to press the need for revision of the ticket prices in the state. After the meeting, Chiranjeevi and Mahesh Babu took to their Twitter handles and expressed gratitude to CM Reddy. In his tweet, Chiranjeevi added that there would hopefully be 'good news soon' regarding the issue.Meanwhile, the government has asked theatres to reserve 25 per cent of the total seats under the “non-premium category” and it will be sold to people who otherwise can’t afford premium movie-watching experiences. The order also mentions that the government will allow theatres to increase the price of a movie ticket than what is stipulated by the state, if the cost of the production of a movie, excluding the pay of the lead actors, exceeds Rs 100 crore. Such movies will be considered as “super high budget movies” and theatres will be allowed to increase the ticket prices over and above the existing rates. But, the government will have the final say in that too. The new rates will have to be approved by the state and theatres will be allowed to charge them for only 10 days from the release of a movie, which falls under the category of “super high budget films”. Furthermore, to avail this exception completely, the big-budget movies should have at least completed 20 percent of their shooting in Andhra Pradesh. For instance, AndhraBoxOffice.com reported that following the new guidelines, the makers of Radhe Shyam have requested the government to allow theatres to charge Rs 100 extra on top of the revised ticket prices, given the budget of the movie is said to be over Rs 300 crore. And the government’s permission on the same is awaited.