SAMBALPUR: Watching cinema has become an expensive affair for cine-buffs in Sambalpur. With three of the cinema halls being closed down, people from the middle and lower middle class are finding it difficult to afford tickets for movies being screened at multiplexes.
Sambalpur had three cinema halls – Ashoka, Laxmi and Gaiety - with Ashoka considered the best among the lot as it was air-conditioned. Conversion of Sambalpur Municipality into a Corporation paved the way for establishment of malls and multiplexes in the city. This dealt a body blow on the business of cinema halls and they had to be subsequently closed down. Three years back, curtains came down on Ashoka Talkies and it had to be demolished to build a multiplex on 25,000 square feet area. Gaiety too was demolished for setting up of a multiplex and Laxmi had to shut down operation.
With a movie ticket being sold at Rs 200 to Rs 300 at multiplexes now, it has become difficult for people to purchase it, says Shankar Das of Budharaja, who earns livelihood doing odd works in the day and as a security guard at night. “Earlier, I used to spend Rs 50 per ticket every Sunday to watch a movie. Today, spending Rs 300 on a movie ticket is next to impossible for people like us,” he adds.
Das’ neighbour Mohan Baghar, who works as a gardener, also resents the price rise. He wanted to fulfil his son’s wish to watch ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ but that would mean an expenditure of Rs 300 per ticket. “When the prices of vegetables and other essential commodities are increasing by each day, I cannot think of spending Rs 600 on two movie tickets,” he rues.