As Mahesh Babu's Maharshi releases, Telengana govt plans to move HC over hike in ticket prices

Following reports of theatres hiking ticket prices ahead of the release of Mahesh Babu -starrer highly-anticipated action drama _Maharshi_ , Telengana government has decided to file a petition in Telangana High Court against the producers and the theatre management, reports Telengana Today. [caption id=“attachment_6598391” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Mahesh Babu in a still from Maharshi. YouTube[/caption] Telengana Cinematography Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav issued a statement stating that as many as 79 theatres have hiked their ticket prices on their own by an earlier High Court order. However, he maintained that the state government has not given permission to increase ticket prices. “Government holds the decision to increase or decrease the ticket prices. We will take legal action against them,” he said in the statement quoted by Gulte.  He added that convened a meeting with the officials of Home and Law Departments, along with Telangana State Film Development Corporation authorities, who maintained that prices of movie tickets cannot be increased beyond the stipulated amount without prior permission of the State government. “The government will move court to ensure that the common man can afford for it at lower and existing prices only,” the minister told News18. On the other hand, Maharshi producer Dil Raju has told Siasat Daily that some distributors were granted permission for the hike in price by the High Court. He added that it is a common trend to increase ticket prices in Andhra Pradesh for big-budget releases. “For big budget films we are ought to get back the money which is possible when theatre managements hike the prices,” he further said.