ON March 7, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the state’s Finance Minister, announced that cinema tickets in the state will be capped at Rs 200, regardless of language, in all theatres, including multiplexes. Siddaramaiah ‘s decision follows, according to a Hindustan Times report, recent remarks by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who said that film productions are dependent on Government approvals for shooting and that he knew “where to tighten the nuts and bolts” when necessary. His comments suggested a strong stance on regulating the industry and ensuring compliance.
Shivakumar’s strange ‘nuts and bolts’ strategy apart, the larger question is should cinema tickets be regulated? The politician’s standard answer across the board is that it is the most basic form of entertainment for the common man and, therefore, needs to be priced for them to afford it. And the industry is wholly on board.
Dynamic pricing
“The Budget has fulfilled the industry demand for capping the movie ticket price. States like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana have capped movie ticket prices. As it applies to single screens and multiplexes, there will be non-dynamic pricing in future. Now, for the first-day show, even single-screen theatres charge Rs 250 to Rs 300, and multiplexes charge a much more exorbitant price. This will stop. In future; they cannot cross the Rs 200- mark,” said KV Chandrashekar., President of the Karnataka Film Exhibitors Association. . It is a fact that dynamic pricing is a way of life in multiple industries – akin to surge pricing in Uber that charges more in peak time, or high prices for airline tickets during peak season or the most in-demand flying hour. But what has happened is that distributors and exhibitors decided to kill the goose that laid the golden egg by ramping up prices to stratospheric levels.
TN a trendsetter
As one Twitter user, D Muthukrishnan, a ‘certified financial planner’, said on X: “I see a lot of surprise in social media on Karnataka capping the price of movie tickets at Rs 200. Tamil Nadu is a trendsetter in this regard. Movie ticket prices are always capped. Please check BookMyShow for exact rates. It roughly starts around Rs.60 and the maximum is capped at around Rs 200. Movies are an unavoidable part of Tamil culture. So all successive state governments have ensured that moviegoing is affordable for the masses. For example, a movie ticket in Mumbai may cost Rs 1,000. But for the same movie, in the same theatre chain, the ticket in Chennai would start at Rs 60.’’
Replying to him, Naresh Nambisan (a full-time investor and trader) said: ’Context – #Pushpa2TheRule ticket was priced at 1,200-1,500 in Bengaluru on BookMyShow.”
Exhibitors’ cartel
It is precisely this price-gouging tactic by a cartel of exhibitors (especially the multiplexes and large chains that have the muscle to arm-twist producers) that has forced government after government to regulate cinema tickets. Filmmakers like Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar are on record complaining about the high price of tickets in the metros. If a family of four were to go to the cinemas they would probably have to spend close to Rs 6,000 – roughly 5,000 for the tickets and Rs 1,000 for the eats. Fewer and fewer families can afford this sort of outing.
The last word has to go to an unnamed bureaucrat who remarked: “At the rate at which popcorn is priced in multiplexes, we may have to cap popcorn too in the near future.” He is right. That is how unreal the distributors and exhibitors are. So, be prepared for popcorn at Rs 400 and a show ticket at Rs 200!
