Theatres and multiplexes across the State have said that they would open ticket bookings for Deepavali only after reading the final government order, which they expect to be issued on Monday.
On Saturday, stakeholders from the theatre and multiplex industry had a closed-door meeting presided over by Abirami Ramanathan, president of the Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owners Federation.
A theatre owner, who was present at the meeting, said Mr. Ramanathan started the meeting saying that they should move forward as a unified industry and be focussed. “He also made a mention that no one should sell movie tickets above the ‘C’ form rates,” he added.
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Five persons from the theatre industry to whom
Theatres and multiplexes are working on the final pricing they want to fix on Monday. The CFO of a city-based theatre said, “We are working on the pricing strategy. But we can arrive at a conclusion only after seeing the final GO. But as of now, we have decided not to increase our ticket price. We will see the footfall for the next three weeks and then make the changes,” he said.
The managing director of a multiplex said, “Every multiplex and theatre will decide their own way of doing this based on their audience and their business potential. But leaving the price at ₹120 itself defeats the whole purpose of getting the ticket rate increase from government.”
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Blockbuster opening
However, city-based theatre Rohini Silver Screen opened their counters for actor Vijay’s upcoming film Mersal , which is slated for release for Deepavali. “We have had a blockbuster opening with the bookings. The tickets for first two days were sold within few minutes,” Nikilesh Surya, executive director of Rohini Silver Screens said. “As we talk, tickets for the third day are being sold,” he added.
Sources in Thenandal Studios Limited said the movie would be released for Deepavali. Clearance from the Censor Board is pending as the Animal Welfare Board of India has not granted approval, sources said.
(With inputs from Udhav Naig)