The Tamil Nadu government hiked the price of movie tickets by 25 percent. According to the new order, for multiplex and air-conditioned theatres in Chennai, the maximum ticket price would be Rs 160 while minimum Rs 50. Non-AC theatres can charge a maximum of Rs 120 and a minimum of Rs 40; multiplexes and AC theatres located outside Chennai can charge upto Rs 140. The minimum ticket price is Rs 50.
As the new ticket price comes into effect from today, Silverscreen talks to the multiplex audience about they feel about the new price. While only a few say that they don’t mind, many say that they will be choosy about watching films in theatres from now on. This is naturally not good news for the directors and producers of Kollywood, especially in the age of digital platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime.
Hemnath Madhavan, DJ
I used to watch three films in a week. Now, the increased ticket price would cost me around Rs 200 (inclusive of online booking charges). This is excluding the food expense. This is a big amount. I have to be choosy now. I am not ready to spend so much on watching movies. Even if it is a big star film or my favourite star film, I will wait for the reviews and then decide if it is worth watching in the theatre. From three films a week, it will probably go down to three films a month. I will stop watching mediocre films which I usually watch in theatres to pass time. From now on, the film has to be extraordinary for me to spend Rs 200 plus amount. I will rather wait for a few months and watch it on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Bhavan Vinayak, team lead of a private company
Big stars will still manage to pull crowds to the theatres on the opening day. Only small budget films that has good content will face the heat as they depend mostly on word-of-mouth publicity. I am already very choosy about which films to watch in the theatre. At the same time, I will not miss watching any of the good movies. Though I won’t stop going to the theatre, I will be extremely selective.
Raghavendra, entrepreneur
I don’t mind spending those extra bucks for watching a movie in the theatre. Not only movie tickets, prices of other commodities also rise at regular intervals, but we keep buying those stuff. Petrol prices keep on rising, are we avoiding taking our bikes or cars out? It’s exactly like that. Let it rise, I will still watch movies in theatres.
Bhavani Krupa, homemaker
It is not going to bother us much as we hardly go to the theatres. We used to watch only selective films in theatres. We will continue to watch it. But will try to avoid the other expenses like food. Instead buying a large popcorn, may be for a small one!
Mahalakshmi, college student
We usually go to the theatres to watch films with the pocket money that we get from our parents. That old ticket price was manageable with the pocket money. Now, it is going to be very difficult to go to the theatres. We have to think twice, make plans before going for a movie.
Virginia Jacob, media professional
I have lived in Delhi and Bengaluru for many years. Compared to those cities, multiplex ticket price used to be very reasonable in Chennai. In Delhi, a movie ticket will cost around Rs 350. With this new decision, watching a movie in Chennai will be expensive. We have to think twice before booking our tickets.
Gokul, a student from Coimbatore
When our favourite stars’ films release, we have to go for the first day first show. Sometimes, we have to shell out a lot of money to get first day first show tickets. We don’t mind spending money to watch our favourite stars, but not in the mood to spend on all films.
Shankar, a business dealer from Madurai
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Before the price hike, 900-seat theatres were only 50 percent full during weekdays, even if the film had a big star. Only weekends shows were full. During festivals, people won’t mind spending extra money on tickets, but after that people won’t come to the theatres. The weekend shows will not be affected but during weekdays, threatres will be empty. If the multiplex tickets are too high, we will have to go to the single screen theatres to watch the film.
Abhilasha, Image executive
It is actually a bit disappointing that the prices of tickets in Chennai have increased. I was born and brought up in Delhi and I’m currently working here. It is at least good that the ticket price is same on all days and for all shows. In Delhi, it varies depending on the show and day. For morning shows, there is a different price, evening shows will have a different one. Prices on weekends and weekdays also varies.
Illustration by Dani Charles