Leading distributors are expressing their anguish over tickets for ‘Salaar’ being sold in black and the ticket rates touched Rs 5000 on day one in Telugu states. “It is a very bad precedent for the industry and it is quite an unhealthy practice,” says a distributor who claims that few distributors fleeced money from gullible viewers and emptied their pockets. “Usually, distributors sell tickets anywhere between Rs 2000 and Rs 5000 for benefit shows at some places. However, this time the major beneficiary of such bulk amounts were only distributors of respective areas which is quite unfortunate,” he informs.
For instance, distributors received Rs 10 lakh from tickets in the Kukatpally area alone and imagine the bulk amounts made by the distributors of ‘Salaar’ in other areas across two states. “They were hoodwinking the government and making money by charging high rates. It is common practice for distributors to host benefit shows and sell tickets for higher prices for fans and others. While a portion of those collections went to charity, this time ‘Salaar’ money directly landed in the pockets of distributors,” he points out.
He claims that if the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh get to know of it, they could even disallow benefit shows in the days to come “No doubt, fans love to watch movies of their favourite star on the first day which gives them a new high. Hence, governments allowed a hike in benefit show tickets. However, If they find something fishy in the coming days then things could turn worse,” he concludes.
