As it attracted global and national audience with engaging scripts such as Baahubali and Pushpa, the Tollywood is finding it difficult to deal with a script that is tormenting it for the last few months. Producers, directors, actors, distributors and exhibitors of the the Telugu film industry are distressed by the latest move of the Andhra Pradesh government, which is the key market for the industry.

It all began when the State Government cut the ticket prices drastically, saying it is doing it to make film watching affordable to common man. For the industry, which has been hit severely due to the pandemic, this move came like a bolt from the blue, with prices of tickets getting as low as ₹5. According to the industry it is not viable for them. The has led to the industry and the ruling YSRCP Government getting into in a war of words.

Some in the film industry feel that the government was hurting the interests of the whole industry as it attempts to target its political opponent and Jana Sena President Pawan Kalyan.

Discussions on

Seeing things going out of control, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had invited ‘Megastar’ Chiranjeevi to discuss the issue over a lunch at his residence last week. After the meeting, Chiranjeevi said there will be another round of discussions with a bigger delegation and hoped that it will be resolved amicably.

Though not many in the film industry are willing to talk about the issue for obvious reasons -- they don’t want to attract government backlash. Thammareddy Bharadwaja, a senior producer and one of the few film personalities who are quite articulate about the issue, told BusinessLine that a team from the industry was in talks with the Government and hoped that it will be resolved in the next two-three weeks. Taking objection to resorting to below-the-belt criticism by some ruling party leaders, he favoured a healthy discussion to find a solution.

Film director VN Aditya felt that the State government should have discussed the issue with stakeholders before taking a decision. “Producers, distributors, exhibitors, actors and technicians are key stakeholders. Any decision that would impact their interests needs to be discussed with them. Had they (the Government) spoken to them, the issue would not have become so serious,” he said.

Reducing the ticket prices is not the only issue that is bothering the industry. “The move is aimed at curbing the practice of inflating the ticket prices exorbitantly to even more than ₹1,000 and selling all tickets (in all categories) at the rate. Besides resulting in losses to the exchequer, this practice is making it unaffordable for people to watch the movie in the first few days of the releases,” a Government official said.

Director-producer Ramgopal Varma has criticised the Government’s move, ridiculing the decision in a series of tweets. “It is up to the manufacturer (the film maker) to decide on at what price he should sell his product. The Government has no role in this,” he contended.

The decision to reduce the fares will directly impact the big-budget films, which largely depend on the first few days of collection. “As the euphoria reaches the peak ahead of the releases, fans don’t mind paying any amount to watch the films in the first few days. This would help the producers and distributors to rake in the maximum collections in the first week,” a film producer, wishing anonymity, said.

The film industry, however, welcomes the move to open the online window for ticket sales. “It helps in bringing accountability and transparency. It will also keep tabs on the established online ticketing firms from taking huge margins,” Bharadwaja said.

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