In the end, it’s the public’s money that goes, right? It seems as though Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan are thinking, “What do we lose anyway?” Looking at their latest decision, it’s hard for anyone not to have such doubts. Whether citing big budgets for Telugu films or claiming that ticket rates are lower in Andhra Pradesh, the state has been repeatedly increasing cinema ticket prices. Even though there’s heavy criticism over this, both the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments have been leaning towards the film industry. In Telangana, even after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy announced in the Assembly that there would be no more ticket rate hikes, he and Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy reversed course and gave permission to hike rates for Telugu straight films, despite objections. That at least could be understood to some extent.
But now, in Andhra Pradesh, granting permission to hike rates for two dubbing films at once has sparked controversy. CM Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan are facing criticism that they are poking holes in the public’s pockets for the sake of their own image. On August 14, two films are set to release — one is Coolie, and the other is War 2. In Coolie, Rajinikanth plays the hero, with Nagarjuna in a key role. The director and producer are both from Tamil Nadu. War 2 is in the same situation — in this film, Jr. NTR is making his Bollywood debut alongside Hrithik Roshan, but here too, the producer and director are from Bollywood. Until now, the Andhra Pradesh government only permitted hikes for Telugu films, but by allowing hikes for dubbing films, they have started a new practice, critics say. In Telangana, there is no ticket hike for these two films. However, the AP government has issued orders allowing both films to increase rates.
Another strange fact is that Coolie is an original Tamil film — yet its ticket rates are higher in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana than in Tamil Nadu. Many people are highlighting this point and criticizing the governments on social media. For War 2, permission has been given to increase prices by ₹75 in single screens and ₹100 in multiplexes. In addition, the ticket price for an extra show of War 2 has been fixed at ₹500. Coolie has the same hike rates. The special show rate for Jr. NTR–Hrithik Roshan’s War 2 has also been approved at ₹500. There are also said to be other reasons behind this. In the Telugu states, noted producer Naga Vamsi is the distributor for War 2. Naga Vamsi and leading director Trivikram Srinivas are business partners. Everyone knows how close AP Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan is to Trivikram Srinivas. In this combination, the special rate for the special show is also being discussed in Tollywood circles.