VIJAYAWADA: Tollywood Megastar K Chiranjeevi, who had a meeting with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy amid the ongoing controversy over movie ticket prices, said the latter had assured him that the government will take a decision acceptable to all in the next one week or 10 days. The actor urged the representatives and other stakeholders of the film industry to maintain restraint until then.
Chiranjeevi flew down to Vijayawada from Hyderabad following an invitation by Jagan for holding talks on the cinema ticket pricing issue. The actor had lunch with Jagan at the latter’s residence and the two held talks for nearly one-and-a-half hours.
Speaking to the media at the Gannavaram airport while returning to Hyderabad, Chiranjeevi said he was overwhelmed by the manner in which he was received by Jagan and his wife Bharathi.“There is a lot of uncertainty and insecurity in the film industry as well as among exhibitors and all other stakeholders over the recent developments. Jagan had called me to tell the other (government) side and I came here,’’ Chiranjeevi said.
The actor said he explained the problems being faced by the film industry and workers dependent on it and the exhibitors in the wake of the pandemic. “Jagan said he too was aware of the troubles in the industry but his only intention was to make movie watching affordable to the common man,’’ he said.
The Megastar added that Jagan promised to take a decision acceptable to all and reconsider the pricing of cinema tickets. “I will discuss with the stakeholders and meet the Chief Minister again, if needed, to resolve the issue,’’ he said, and added that the government would bring a fresh GO on ticket prices. “I hope a decision from the government in a week or 10 days,’’ he said, and appealed to those in the film industry not to make any comments till a decision is made.
The State government and Telugu film industry are embroiled in a controversy over the government slashing and fixing the movie ticket prices. While the government maintained that it was a step towards making movie watching affordable to the common man, the film industry representatives and exhibitors were apprehensive, stating that it was difficult to run the business with the “very less” ticket rates fixed by the government.
While the government maintained it was only following the law in the matter, many in the industry saw it as a clear attempt by the government to hurt it, with certain individual star heroes as the real target.