Hyderabad: The ongoing hype and craze for director Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ movie has led to tickets selling at over Rs 800 across the city on its first day of release. While the movie got government approval to charge over Rs 400 for the first few days, even then prices were jacked up to exorbitant amounts, which movie enthusiasts were more than ready to shell out.
At a single screen, a ticket for the movie costs Rs. 230 for the first three days. From March 28 to April 3, the cost of a ticket at a multiplex in Hyderabad will be Rs. 354 whereas, at a single screen, it will be Rs. 210.
Rajamouli’s directorial ‘RRR’ which is a fictional story inspired by Telugu freedom fighters Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem hit the theatres on March 25. RRR stands for ‘Rise Roar Revolt’ in English and ‘Roudram Ranam Rudhiram’ in Telugu. The movie stars Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt, Jr NTR, and Ajay Devgn in lead roles.
Siasat.com visited theatres in different areas to understand the situation around the high demand. A black ticket vendor outside the Miraj Cinemas in Miyapur told us that he could get us up to 15 ‘Executive’ seat tickets for the afternoon show at Rs 800 per ticket. The actual price of that particular ticket in this theatre is Rs 230.
At Viswanath 70MM theatre in Kukatpally, the scene is not much different. Tickets in black are touching Rs 750-800 while the actual cost in the Balcony is Rs 230. When we tried to bargain to understand how the market works, the vendor didn’t budge from the quoted price. “I get a cut of a mere Rs 50. The police caught me in the morning and snatched all my tickets. I incurred a loss of Rs 2000 due to that,” he said.
Cinema lovers who want to watch the movie first day on-screen find the whole experience taxing especially on the financial front. “I bought the ticket in black at Rs 800 because I am a big fan. But I cannot take my whole family to the theatre at this price. The movie will be online and on the OTT very soon. They will watch it at that point,” a fan said.
The ticket prices of RRR have been revised after getting permission from the home department of Telangana state. As per the permission, air-conditioned and air-cooled theaters can increase ticket prices by Rs. 50 for the first three days. The price can be hiked by Rs. 30 for the next one week.
For recliner seats, permission has been given for increasing the ticket price of RRR by Rs. 100 for the first three days and Rs. 50 for the next one week. Apart from it, the government has allowed theaters to screen five shows per day for the first 10 days.
The film’s craze has even led to some bizarre situations. In Vijaywada, a theatre placed nail fencing near the screen to restrict the audience from damaging the screen and podium.
