Until last week, there was little hope that Baahubali sequel would be released in the state. But today, in a sudden turnaround, the movie takes the cake and its icing too.
We hear that tickets for all 148 shows have been sold out, just counting the single-screen theatres. In comparison, in Andhra Pradesh, bookings are still open for 80 to 90 shows.
Tickets are not cheap too in Bengaluru. The theatres that usually charge anywhere between Rs 80 and Rs 120 are selling for Rs 250 to Rs 600 for the Baahubali sequel. Multiplexes such as Inox, PVR and Cinepolis are yet to take bookings, and here the tickets are expected to go for as high as Rs 1,000. Probably, this will be the only cosmopolitan city that will see Baahubali released in three languages - Telugu, Tamil and Hindi.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has assured moviegoers that multiplex tickets will have a price cap of Rs 200 any time this week. But with Baahubali, even single-screen theatres are crossing that cap by hundreds.
KG Road, the major hub of Kannada films will see three main theatres — Triveni, Ahbinaya and Bhumika — releasing the film and even Movieland might join the list. Urvashi has planned six shows and the first will start at 4 am. Apparently, the latter has already made a business of around Rs 30 lakh on the very first day.
Prices are High Because
of First-day Craze: N R Sudhir
NR Sudhir, the distributor in Karnataka, says, “As of on Tuesday, thje film will be screened in around 200 theatres. As a policy, we have decided not to ask for shows where Kannada films are running. We will consider only those theatres who want to replace their running films with Baahubali, and they will decide on this in two days. We might add 50 more theatres, or even more, which we will be decide upon by Thursday.”
What about the ticket prices at single screen theatres? Sudhir says, “It is just the craze around the first-day shows. By Saturday, the ticket prices will come down to regular rates. Common people cannot buy tickets at higher rates. Single-screens are increasing their rates because the tickets usually bought for Rs 100 are sold in black. To bleed the black market, the theatres owners have decided to sell it at a higher price. Those who are crazy about the movie will come and watch it at a premium price... later normal rates prevail. So it is a matter of one or two days, depending on how popular the movie becomes after the release.”