VISAKHAPATNAM: As SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘Baahubali-The Conclusion’ is all set to hit the big screens on Friday, the movie lovers from the North Andhra districts have expressed displeasure over repeated failure of booking tickets online.
At a time when movie buffs expressed anger at the doubling of ticket rates for the much anticipated movie, new issues came to the fore.
Till Wednesday, not even a single ticket was issued at the theatres which led to confusion. Almost all the theatres sold tickets online and bookings have been closed till next Wednesday.
Fans allege black-marketing of tickets prior to the release and also complained that those who did not have Internet access are forced to miss the movie for which they have been waiting for two years.
“We were not able to book even a single ticket online even though it displays ‘available’. Even we tried coming on Wednesday, a message- ‘Sorry there are no seats available’, gets displayed. Not even one person from our whole gang has got a ticket,” said K Avinash, an employee of HDFC Bank in the city.
It may be recalled that during the release of ‘Baahubali-The beginning’, there were a number of allegations over the sale of tickets in black by the theatre owners, in collusion with distributors. Then the district administration had stopped selling of ticket at the theatres and said they should be sold only online.
The ‘Baahubali-The Conclusion’ has also generated huge expectations and demand for tickets. A few single screen theatres are expected to sell tickets on Thursday morning, while a majority of them have already started selling.
Joint collector-I G Srijana said that they had constituted a task force team which will keep an eye on the cinema theatres in the district to check irregularities.