Tamil Nadu: Costlier movie tickets will lead to piracy,say Film Critics

Chennai: The price of movie tickets might soon rise up to Rs 200 (excluding internet handling charges) and this would mean that one of the most cost-effective and best sources of entertainment in Tamil Nadu would soon be a dream too far at least for a section of audience with lower incomes.

Industry players and film critics say the decision by the government to allow revision of the upper limit of the tickets would not only affect the public but the film industry itself, as it would increase piracy or force public to go in search of other modes of entertainment.

“Hardly four to five movies earn huge profits in a year and increasing the price of the tickets does not mean more number of movies would earn profits. People in the industry must consider other options like re-budgeting to reduce cost. A common man will soon move on to other sources and the move will ultimately affect the film industry,” said Tamil writer and critic, Gnani Sankaran tagging the move as ‘suicidal effort’.

Concurring with his views, Actor Aari said this move might promote the sale of black tickets. “For all the movies of big stars, all the tickets from the counter would be sold to a person (from the theatre) to show legal accounts on papers and the tickets would be resold to the public with an increased cap.”

Also, this has a major effect on upcoming directors and films as the public would not shell out as much money to watch the movie of a fresher. Only people from the “privileged” class can afford the movies as ticket prices would suddenly rise by Rs 80.

However, Abirami Ramanathan, owner of Abirami mall in the city said the ultimate decision to increase the ticket prices is in the hands of the theatre owners. “We know our kind of audience and the prices they can afford and 90 per cent of the audience will not worry about this provision of the government.”