The Karnataka government has announced that the price of movie tickets in all cinema halls will be capped at Rs 200. This rate will also be applicable in multiplexes. Ticket prices increase significantly when new films are released in cinema halls. To curb this, the Karnataka government has capped ticket prices to Rs 200 in the 16th budget. Under no circumstances will the ticket prices of a movie exceed Rs 200.Also, an OTT platform has been announced to promote films in all regional languages. In this regard, a proposal has been made to create a government OTT platform. Kannada filmmakers were facing many challenges to get a place on the currently most popular OTP platform. The government has taken this step for this as well.In addition, Karnataka Chalanchitra Academy has been given 2.5 acres of land in Nandini Layout, where a multiplex complex will be built under a private-public partnership. The government is going to set up digital and non-digital film archives to preserve Kannada films. A fund of Rs 3 crore has been approved for this. This will document Kannada films. Therefore, the socio-historical and cultural aspects of the Kannada language will be preserved through the production of Kannada films.The Karnataka government announced the state budget on Friday. Siddaramaiah clarified in his budget that, “The price of each movie ticket in all theatres, including multiplexes, will be capped at Rs. 200.” New rules in this regard will be implemented across the state soon.During the Question Hour, JD(S) member Govindaraju raised a question in this regard. Responding to this, Home Minister G Parameshwara had said in the Assembly that the government would definitely consider the ticket prices. In 2017, Home Minister Siddaramaiah took the initiative to fix the price of movie tickets at Rs 200. An order in this regard was also issued during his previous tenure as Chief Minister. Still, I don’t understand why the state government has not taken steps in this regard till now, he said.This decision of the government will curb the price of movie tickets. Ticket prices also change according to the time of the movie. Ticket prices for night shows are higher. Ticket prices are relatively low during weekdays (Monday to Friday), but on weekends, the prices increase dramatically. The ticket prices of some movies increase by as much as 600 after the movie is released. To promote the film industry, the government has announced to grant industry status to the film sector. With this announcement, the film industry will also get the benefits of the state’s industrial policies.The pending issue of setting up a ‘Film City’ has once again come to the fore in this budget. Siddaramaiah said that the government is committed to setting up this Film City next year. The plan was to set up this Film City in Mysore. This plan is now coming to fruition and an international standard ‘Film City’ will be set up in Mysore for which Rs. 500 crores will be spent through private and public partnership. For this, 150 acres of land has been transferred to the Information and Public Relations Department.The Kannada film industry has been continuously demanding that the government reduce the ticket prices of films. The Karnataka government has taken this demand for price regulation into consideration in this budget. The objective behind it is that the audience should be able to afford to watch films.Actor-producers Rakshit Shetty and Rishabh Shetty created their own platform in July 2024 to overcome the difficulties in getting major platforms. They had expressed their displeasure over the difficulties in getting major platforms to get Kannada content.Movie ticket prices are always high in big cities like Bangalore.Tamil Nadu and other states have also capped the prices of movie tickets. In Tamil Nadu, the ticket prices are around Rs 120. Therefore, movie lovers in Tamil Nadu can afford to watch movies.
Dr. Anupriya Gaikwad
For True to Life News Media Pvt. Ltd.