VISAKHAPATNAM: The much-awaited government order (GO) on cinema ticket rates was released by the state government on Monday.
Going by the opinions from a cross-section of people in the film fraternity, the GO seems to be a boon for small budget filmmakers and bane for the exhibitors and high-budget moviemakers.
AP Chamber of Film Commerce vice-president Perla Sambamurthty said, “This GO will not be helpful for film exhibitors like me as the ticket prices set do not meet the expectations of common man. We will announce our action plan shortly.”
The lowest ticket price for a movie is Rs 40 in towns and Rs 70 in cities like Vizag. The highest is Rs 250.
Vizag Film Society founder secretary Narava Prakasa Rao said the government should introduce a single take no objection certificate for filmmakers instead of making them go around departments like police, revenue, tourism etc for permission. Filmmakers would then show interest in shooting films in Andhra Pradesh.
According to the GO, movies with a budget of more than Rs 100 crore of production cost (excluding cast and crew remunerations) will have special prices for 10 days only if 20 per cent of the movie is shot in Andhra Pradesh.
Director Subbu, who helmed the Sai Dharam Tej starrer ’Solo Brathuke So Bettaru’ told this newspaper that 27 days of the 60-day shoot of his film were in Visakhapatnam. “Vizag is a beautiful city for filmmakers. The government’s offer of film shoots in AP is awesome.”
Another director, R.V. Subramanyam, said, “This GO is somehow better than the previous ones issued by the AP government. It seems to have been a boon to low budget films.”
A fifth show is allowed for small budget movies within Rs 20 crore budget, including remunerations of actors.
A film crew member of the Prabhas-starrer ‘Radhe Shyam’ and ‘RRR’ said this GO would definitely be a drawback for films shot in foreign locations with more investments.
“Chiranjeevi praised the GO on Twitter. But we don’t know the reason behind his tweet,” the film crew member said.
In his tweet, Chiranjeevi said, “Thank you CM YS Jagan for releasing the GO that benefits all people of the film industry. The fifth show for small budget movies is highly appreciated.”