After weeks of intense promotions, SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR is all set for a grand release on Friday, March 25. While audiences are eager to watch the Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Alia Bhatt starrer on the big screens, there are also concerns about the ticket prices being hiked in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
On March 18, the Telangana government’s Home Department issued a directive allowing theatre owners to increase the prices of tickets for the first 10 days for RRR. Air-conditioned and air-cooled theatres can increase the ticket price by Rs 50 for the first three days and by Rs 30 for the subsequent week. For recliner seats, the government permitted an increase by Rs 100 for the first three days and by Rs 50 for the next one week. The Telangana government also allowed theatres to screen five shows for the first 10 days in the state.
Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh government also announced on March 18 that the government is permitting theatres to increase the ticket price by Rs 75 over and above the presently allowed rates for a period of 10 days from RRR’s release. As per the Government Order (GO), an exemption was made since RRR falls under the category of ‘super high budget film’.
Due to the government’s move, the price of RRR tickets in Hyderabad’s multiplexes have hit an all-time high. Multiplex tickets are priced at Rs 400-450 each in the city for the first three days of its release, between March 25-27. In the case of single screens, tickets for RRR cost Rs 200-230 each. Expressing their disappointment, a section of film buffs shared on social media that they are rethinking their decision to watch the film in a cinema hall.
It is to be noted that the move to increase the ticket prices for RRR in Telangana comes after the government issued revised rates for movie tickets in December 2021. The Andhra government too announced new ticket prices on March 8 after representatives from the film industry, including actor Chiranjeevi, cited that multiple films have failed to perform well at the box-office.
Speaking to TNM, N Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy from Kurnool’s INOX Leisure Limited says that an exception has been made by the government due to the scale of the project. “A section of audiences might be unhappy, but many viewers are eager to come and watch the film in a theatre. Fans have been interested in the film since the release of Baahubali 2 in 2017. Tickets for FDFS (First Day First Show), which are usually bought by fan clubs, are priced between Rs 500-1,000 and fans are still willing to pay. So the revision of ticket prices has not had a significant impact on pre-bookings so far,” he says.
On the other hand, audiences tell TNM that they are unhappy with the hike in prices. Entrepreneur Nayini Anurag Reddy shares that although he has decided to watch RRR in a single screen theatre and not a multiplex, he was planning to watch it for the second time with his family in a multiplex. “However, four tickets will cost Rs 2,000. So we have decided to skip it until the prices come down. As a Hyderabadi, it is a sad development seeing the ticket prices go up till Rs 450 since the city was always considered to be more affordable than nearby cities like Bengaluru,” Anurag explains.
Expectations on big-budget films starring headliners are high since they are likely to pull the OTT crowds back to cinema halls. Mythreya Kodakandla, a 28-year-old content writer from Hyderabad, shares, “Some movies like RRR need to be experienced in theatres for its larger-than-life visuals. But I had to think twice before booking a ticket for RRR at a multiplex. Even a 2D ticket for an early morning show cost between Rs 300-420.”
Ticket sales might be higher for the first three days but a film can stay afloat at the box-office after the opening weekend only if its content is enjoyable, says M Ramadasu, vice-president of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. Asked whether Radhe Shyam’s box-office collections were affected by the increase in ticket prices at the time, Ramadasu says, “It could be one of the factors since Radhe Shyam was the first big-budget film to release in theatres after ticket prices were revised.”
The ticket price hike might benefit the makers of RRR in the first week, but audiences as well as exhibitors wonder if it is a sustainable approach. “If the ticket prices are hiked once again for films like Acharya and Sarkaru Vaari Paata, audiences might instead wait and watch the movie after it releases on OTT. In most cases, films releasing in cinema halls start streaming on OTT within a month or so from its release,” Ramadasu quips.
Adding to Ramadasu’s point, Anurag states, “Even if viewers turn up in large numbers to watch these movies in theatres despite the higher price, it will no longer be accessible to all audiences, it will become a luxury for some of them.”