Exhibitors Welcome Minister Komatireddy’s Decision on Ticket Rate Hikes

Telangana Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy has taken a firm stand against movie ticket price hikes in the state, making it clear that producers and directors should not approach the government seeking higher ticket rates. He said the government’s decisions are guided by the spirit of Indiramma governance and will prioritise the interests of the poor. Questioning the practice of demanding ticket hikes, he asked why producers seek higher prices when leading actors are already paid in crores.

Welcoming the Telangana government’s decision, Vijayender Reddy, president of the Telangana Controllers and Exhibitors Association, which represents around 300 exhibitors across the state, said unreasonable ticket prices have severely affected footfalls. “With inflated ticket rates, audiences have stopped coming to theatres, and we are going through very tough times,” he said. He urged the state government to fix ticket prices in the range of Rs 100 to Rs 200, or Rs 75 to Rs 175, for two classes, instead of permitting rates of Rs 400 to Rs 600 for big-budget films.

Vijayender Reddy pointed out that some filmmakers obtain special government orders (GOs) to hike ticket prices for star-driven films for a few days or a week to secure sensational openings. “Prices are increased four to five times, and audiences naturally shy away from theatres. To protect single screens, we even organised a partial bandh a few months ago, as most theatres are running under losses. Some theatres have locked their gates, while many are cancelling shows due to poor attendance, sometimes with fewer than ten viewers,” he said.

He also criticised the earlier government’s decision to allow uniform ticket rates across gram panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations. “How can we equate the income of a rickshaw puller in a village with that of an IT employee in a city and fix the same ticket price?” he questioned.

Reddy revealed that a letter has been submitted to Dil Raju, chairman of the Telangana State Film Development Corporation, urging him to stop ticket hikes and make cinema affordable for the common man. “We have formally given a letter,” he confirmed.

Dispelling the notion that higher ticket prices benefit theatres, Vijayender Reddy said increased collections do not translate into higher earnings for exhibitors. “This is a misconception. We do not get any extra benefit from inflated collections. For instance, on normal ticket rates, if a film collects Rs 45,000 from four shows, we receive Rs 15,000 as rent. Even if a film collects Rs 3 lakh a day due to hiked prices, we still get only Rs 15,000. So where is the extra money for theatres?” he asked.

He further added that in several cases, distributors pressure theatre owners by negotiating aggressively and cutting rentals to screen big films. “We are left helpless. Theatres in places like Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Gadwal, Nalgonda, Miryalaguda and Warangal are facing different kinds of problems,” he concluded.