I am really sorry Rajni saar. This time with a saddened spirit,
I am telling you that I could not be a part of the “Kabali” extravaganza. I
tried hard to resist, but in the end I succumbed to the monetary inflation
of movie tickets occurring at an alarmingly high rate in Namma Bengaluru. While
my Chennai and Hyderabad friends were doing check-ins with “Kabali Da”statuses
on facebook on the very first day of its release, I had no other go but to find
solace on torrents. I myself am discouraged, but what to do saar? I am a middle
class man who cannot afford to spend 1000 bucks for 2 hours of entertainment.
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| Kabali Da |
Saar, I don’t have to tell you that the "The movie
aficionado" inside a true native Bangalorean is not confined to just
Kannada movies. If you recall your old days in Bangalore circa 1970s; right
from then, we have watched Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, English and even good
Malayalam movies in theaters. Post 90s, all your movies have run to packed
houses with more than 100 shows a day in namma Bengaluru's theaters. Whoa! We
are true cosmopolitan that way saar. Kabali was no different. In fact the
Kabali craze was something that I have never seen or witnessed for any of your
other movies.
But saar, of late, our movie watching experience in theaters
too has seen a radical change. With the
demolishing of old individual theaters and advent of malls and multiplexes, the
ticket prices have sky rocketed. This is where the problem is. Multiplexes are
sucking the pockets of Bangalore's middle class saar! The engrossing growth
that namma Bengaluru has witnessed in the past decade has infused a sense of
envy among the neighborhood. But it is never a delight when it comes to movie
watching experience for us Bangaloreans. Exorbitant movie ticket prices are
haunting us, the middle class movie lovers! Bangalore has become neighbors
envy, but not owners pride saar!
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| Kabali ticket price in Bangalore 450Rs and 500 Rs |
Even though the advent of malls and multiplexes is seen in
Chennai and Hyderabad, the ticket price has remained almost the same. A movie
in Prasad's iMax of Hyderabad is never more than 200 Rs. The same movie in a
Bangalore's multiplex costs a whopping 800 Rs. I don’t know why this kolaveri
saar. I myself have seen movies in Big cinemas of Chennai for as low as 10
bucks. Yes saar, you read it right. 10 jujubi bucks kanna! But Bangaloreans
cannot watch the same movie for less than 500 Rs. This is a double standard no saar?
Just log onto bookmyshow, PVR or Inox website. Choose Kabali and plainly
compare the ticket prices for Bangalore and other cities. You'll be amazed to
see that tickets in Bangalore theaters are exorbitantly high compared to other
cities.
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| Kabali ticket price in Chennai - 120 Rs and 10 Rs |
Not just power cuts and traffic snarls; political apathy in
Karnataka has hit the entertainment too. Unlike AP, Telangana or TN, there is
no government intervention in regulating the prices of movie tickets here. So
the multiplexes like PVR and Inox are selling the movie tickets at exorbitant
prices and naming it "Gold Class". But why the same PVR does not
offer "gold class" in Hyderabad or Chennai? No answers from them
saar. Why the movie tickets in the neighboring states are not above 250 for any
show, any movie? The government is also to be blamed. Our government takes
examples of neighboring states while increasing prices of milk and other
consumer goods. Why not for movie tickets?
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| Kabali ticket price in Hyderabad (Prasad iMax) - 150 Rs |
When a new movie is released, an average Bangalorean talks
about downloading the pirated version than going to theater. Let us consider my
own case, which is also the case of lakhs of other Bangaloreans. Being a movie
fanatic and considering that I watch Bollywood, Hollywood, Telugu, Tamil and
Kannada movies too, I end up watching a minimum of 3-4 movies a month. I spend
an average of 2500-3000 Rs a month on movies. The figure is way too high if I
include my family. It is of course a burden on my pocket. So I’ve set-up a
Raspberry Pi streaming network on my PC so that I can download movies from
pirated sites and watch it directly on my home theater TV.
The home entertainment has seen a radical make-over with
advent of torrents and file sharing apps. Firstly, it is "almost"
theater experience for me. Thanks to HD content availability as soon as a movie
is released. Secondly and importantly, savings of 2000 bucks straight. Thirdly,
having to pay a hefty surcharge by yenna rascala service providers like
bookmyshow (they charge 45-50 Rs as surcharge for 2 tickets) has worn off the
hypothetical family of four. They claim to have so many offers. But I have not
found even one kanna who has been able to make use of it saar. Lastly, movies
at home are advertisement free. So many ads in between a movie are so annoying.
People who are little less tech savvy than me are buying the pirated DVDs in
open markets. People with smart phones are watching and sharing movies on their
mobile and tabs. Things like these are working wonders for middle class family
in keeping them away from theaters.
I still remember watching some of your movies saar. I think
it was Baba and Padayappa in Nataraj Theater. With your entry, people shouting “Thalaiva,
Thalaiva” in unison and doing Abhishekam from Nandini milk packets, throwing
coins from back…. Oh! The bliss. It was worth every penny! It is only sad that
middle class people like me cannot afford it anymore.
Unless our government wakes up from sleep, nothing happens
and also you can’t do much. So forget it saar. I just wanted to tell you that I
also can’t do much other than being apologetic only. I wish you reach even
greater heights of your stardom. I’m signing off secretly wishing that piracy
flourishes until someone does something about it. Good night saar!
Image courtesy – ibtimes.co.in and in.bookmyshow.com
