Declining Number Of Theatres In AP Raises Concern
The state, which once had more than 2,000 theatres, now has about 1,200 functioning screens: Reports
VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Cine Exhibitors Forum has expressed concern over the declining number of cinema theatres in the state, saying further ticket price hikes would worsen the crisis and affect affordable entertainment for the public.
The state, which once had more than 2,000 theatres, now has about 1,200 functioning screens, with nearly 400 shutting down in the past three to four years, Forum members said.
A meeting of the Forum was held in Vijayawada on Friday in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Film Development Corporation chairman Bharat Bhushan. Exhibitors raised technical and financial issues before the chairman, who assured them that he would take up their concerns with the government.
Senior exhibitor Yalamanchili Ramachandra Rao and Forum secretary Gorantla Babu told the media that multiple licensing requirements involving the fire and cinematograph departments were causing difficulties.
They sought a five-year uniform renewal system through a single-window mechanism. They also demanded that industrial power tariffs currently applicable to tourism and hotels be extended to cinema theatres.
Exhibitors sought permission to marginally increase theatre maintenance charges to meet rising electricity, wage and modernisation costs. They also urged the government to review ticket pricing uniformly across all categories of theatres, irrespective of whether they are located in panchayats, municipalities or corporations.
The Forum further sought a regulation requiring new films to be released on OTT platforms only after eight weeks of theatrical screening to safeguard theatre revenues.
High ticket prices were driving away middle-class and lower-middle-class audiences. It cited the success of films such as Irimudi, Samantha’s recent release, and DC, which it said generated strong revenues without ticket price hikes, as evidence that affordable pricing supports theatre business, it said.
Forum leaders said additional income from higher ticket prices benefited producers and distributors rather than theatre owners, while public resentment was directed at exhibitors.
The meeting was attended by Vijayawada Cine Exhibitors Association president Muttavarapu Srinivas Babu, joint secretary Parvathaneni Srinivas Rao, member Ramprasad and other exhibitors.
