High pre-booking ticket prices of Baahubali-2 has brought to fore again the demand for implementing a pending government proposal to cap the rates at Rs 200. Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce (KFCC) President Sa Ra Govindu said the ticket price of the Prabhas-starrer, being released on Apr 28, was anywhere between Rs 120 and Rs 600 and expected to reach close to Rs 900.
The chamber had been in talks with government officials to implement the proposal, made in this years budget, after it received complaints about exhorbitant rates charged by cinema theatres in the city, he said. At a meeting with officials, he pushed for refunding the excess amount charged for Baahubali-2 and other films if the government implemented the proposal, Govindu said.
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The chamber chief said he was expecting a government order in this regard soon. An official of the Department of Information and Public Relations, who is familiar with the development, said the concerned department will be clearing the hurdles related to the issue and implement the proposal in a couple of days.
The film exhibition industry has been sceptical about the governments move to cap movie ticket prices at Rs 200. Last month, Mukta Arts Managing Director Rahul Puri had said the industry would in all likelihood oppose move, stating that price capping as a concept was against free market.
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The proposal in the 2017-18 budget followed recommendations by a 14-member committee, headed by filmmaker and Chairman of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy S V Rajendra Singh Babu, constituted to draft a policy for promotion of Kannada cinema.
There were demands from various stakeholders of the film industry to the government, urging it to cap multiplex entry fee at Rs 120 on the lines of neighbouring Tamil Nadu.