Tamil Nadu government considers fixed ticket prices of special shows of big budget releases in state

The Tamil Nadu state government is considering slashing ticket prices by allotting a fixed rate in the state when it comes to big budget releases. According to The Hindu, the state’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Kadambur Raju on Monday made the announcement. The prices will apply to special shows of mega releases during the festive season. “Theatre owners requested the government to fix the rates for special shows to eliminate the possibility of tickets being sold exhorbitantly. Revenue to the government will also go up,” he said. He added the Tamil Nadu government might look into the likelihood of building infrastructure for online ticket sales since earlier, producers had objected to the “convenience/internet charges” levied per ticket on ticketing websites. [caption id=“attachment_6960931” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Representational image[/caption] Reacting to the development, a renowed distributor and exhibitor tells The Hindu he was in agreement with the state government’s decision. He said that mostly special shows are screened only for two or three big actors, for which some theatres charge high prices for one screening. The News Minute notes the Tamil Nadu government had increased the base rate of ticket prices in multiplexes with more than three screens to Rs 150. The minimum price of tickets sold in cinemas across the state was also hiked to Rs 15. Multiplexes with less than three screens were permitted to charge between Rs 106.30 and Rs 118.80. All these prices did not include the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Meanwhile, distributors have demanded Rajinikanth to compensate for the losses they incurred after the release of _Darbar_ . They had reached the actor’s residence on Monday to speak with him, but were stopped by the police, reports Deccan Chronicle. Lyca Productions and director AR Murugadoss refused to address the issue, leading the distributors to get on the roads to approach the actor. Rajinkanth had previously reimbursed distributors for his films like Baba in 2002 and Lingaa in 2015.