VIJAYAWADA: The State government has allowed 83 sealed theatres in nine districts to reopen and directed exhibitors to approach the Joint Collectors concerned in this regard.
Announcing this after meeting exhibitors at his residence in Machilipatnam on Thursday, Minister for Cinematography Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) said though he asked the exhibitors to get all the required licences to run a theatre, including NOC from the Fire Services Department, in September, the latter failed to do so.
Hence, official teams sealed the theatres for violating the norms during inspections. He made it clear that the government was not vindictive against the film industry as alleged by some people. As the exhibitors came forward to rectify their mistakes and get all the required permissions to run theatres within a month, the sealed cinemas were allowed to reopen, he said.
Film actor R Narayana Murthy, who called on Perni Nani, said he was against increasing ticket prices and screening benefit shows in the name of big-budget films as it was nothing but authorised blackmarketing.
Committee to discuss ticket prices today
“The Andhra Pradesh government is now in the process of fixing cinema ticket prices keeping in view the common audience. The filmmakers, exhibitors and audience should feel happy with ticket prices,” he said.
The actor appealed to representatives of the producers' council, film chamber, movie artistes association and industry elders to meet Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and discuss whatever is the best for the Telugu film industry. He felt that individual egos should not be linked to the industry and suggested that there be a positive attitude among all the stakeholders to resolve contentious issues amicably. He also urged the Chief Minister to take a decision on the ticket prices, which benefits the film industry and people.
Meanwhile, the committee constituted by the government to look into cinema ticket prices will meet on Friday. Following the directions of the AP High Court, the government constituted the committee comprising officials, representatives of Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, exhibitors, distributors and cinegoers. The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Home) Kumar Vishwajeet through a video conference. Classification of theatres and other issues will also be discussed in the meeting.