It was only on Friday that the Telangana high court pulled up the state government headed by chief minister A Revanth Reddy for permitting a steep hike in ticket prices for Prabhas-starrer “The Raja Saab.”
The court cancelled the memo to that effect and directed the online ticketing platform to collect tickets only at the old rates.
It also lashed out at the state government for lacking a consistent film ticketing policy and was permitting ticket price hike on film-to-film basis.
But the high court order seems to have little impact on the state government, which once again gave the green signal for enhanced ticket rates—this time for Megastar Chiranjeevi’s film “Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu,” scheduled for release on January 12.
The government on Friday issued orders allowing a special paid premiere show on January 11 and approved increased ticket prices for the film, directed by Anil Ravipudi.
According to the Government Order, the special premiere show will be held between 8 pm and 10 pm on January 11, with tickets priced at Rs 600, including GST.
Further, from January 12, theatres have been permitted to increase ticket prices for a period of seven days—by ₹50 (including GST) in single-screen theatres and by Rs 100 (including GST) in multiplexes.
The decision comes despite the high court’s sharp observations earlier in the day, questioning the government’s policy of routinely allowing hikes and warning against burdening moviegoers.
The court expressed displeasure over the state’s approach, questioning whether such repeated relaxations serve public interest and cautioning the government against converting cinema into an unaffordable luxury for the common man.
Despite this judicial censure, the government went ahead with another price hike approval within hours, signalling that the high court’s reprimand has had little immediate impact on its policy stance regarding film ticket pricing.
The Revanth government seems to be inn a state of utter confusion. For “Raja Saab,” it has first not given any permission for ticket fare hike. Later, it granted approval at the last moment and was forced to cancel the same after the high court intervention.
“There is no surprise if somebody moves the high court again and gets the ticket price hike stalled for Chiranjeevi film, too,” an observer said, adding the government has not learnt a lesson despite getting reprimands from the court.
