A few weeks ago, the high-budget Baahubali released and one of the first headlines following the big release was an unprecedented rise in ticket prices. There were reports which claimed distributors were selling tickets in the black market and organising “controlled screenings”, using those higher-priced tickets.
With Srimanthudu, the trend of controlling the fate of every single ticket within the first two days, is repeating. Distributors — who are buying the distribution rights for crores of rupees — want to cash in on as much as they can within the opening days. In most of the single-screen theatres and multiplexes, distributors have blocked entire shows of the film. It was the same practice with Baahubali which saw tickets being sold out for Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 in some areas.
It’s simple. Sell tickets at a higher rate in the first few days, and the chances of recovering money become stronger. And a buzz is created: “Tickets sold out”.
Abhishek Pictures bought the Nizam rights for the Mahesh Babu-starrer for Rs 14 crore. This is the highest price for any Telugu film, after Baahubali. So to recover the investment, distributors are now organising controlled screenings.
And the impact of the trend? Prasads multiplex in the city claimed it can’t book tickets for an 8.45 am show of Srimanthudu as all the tickets were already blocked by the distributor. Adding to this trend are the famous benefit shows. A single ticket for Srimanthudu benefit show costs around Rs 1,500.
