Hyderabad: A recent Government Order has hiked the tariff for Ravindra Bharathi, which is synonymous with the culture of Hyderabad, substantially.
Starting from January 1, 2014, the tariff, which was Rs 10,000 for four hours, will be Rs 20,000. “Initially one had to pay Rs 5,000 as advance and Rs 5,000 as rent for fours hours. But now it will be doubled to Rs 10,000 for advance and Rs 10,000 for rent.
This tariff is for regular cultural events. Whereas, Rs 40,000 will be charged for conducting an arangetram or an award function or a movie shooting. One has to pay Rs 50,000 if it is a ticketed event,” a source from Ravindra Bharathi said.
Apart from Ravindra Bharathi, the tariffs of all other popular venues, including the Indira Priyadarshini Hall (Rs 16,000 for four hours), Jubilee Hall (Rs 35,000 for four hours), Telugu University Auditorium (Rs 12,000 for four hours) and Lalithakala Thoranam (Rs 40,000 for four hours) have been increased.
Administration officials at the Ravindra Bharathi said that the hike was essential as their income was not sufficient to even pay the salaries of employees. “Ravindra Bharathi works as a Trust under the department of culture and we need funds to keep it running.
The government provides us a grant of Rs 30 lakh every year and we earn about Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakh from our bookings. This entire money goes in maintenance, salaries, bills, audio systems and other facilities.
The hike has become necessary to clear the debts,” the source informed. Rallabandi Kavitha Prasad, director, department of culture, government of Andhra Pradesh, was unavailable for a comment.
Next: Hike disappoints city artistes
Hike disappoints city artistes
Hyderabad: After the recent GO hiking the booking prices of Ravindra Bharathi, various artistes, dancers and musicians are complaining that the only affordable stage is now out of their reach and that they will not get back even one-fourth of the money they invest.
The fraternity is now stressing on the need for setting up of a kala vedika in Hyderabad that will act as an interactive space for art to flourish. Kuchipudi dancer Haleem Khan said he was shocked by the news.
“It is very difficult, not just for me, but for any dancer. Even when the tariff was Rs 10,000, it was expensive for us, but we somehow managed. Now, it is going to be very tough for us and I don’t know how we are going to afford the place. We will have to save for ages to be able to get a show there. In Hyderabad, we have very limited options, wherein the stage is big and affordable,” he said.
Due to the tariff hike, the artistes are being forced to look to other venues which, though affordable, are smaller. Gaining popularity are Lamakaan, Saptaparni, Our Sacred Space and auditoriums in schools, universities or institutes.
Charging between Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000, these places can host about 100-200 people. The NIFT auditorium and the Keyes High School grounds are now being chosen over the larger auditoriums. “But the dates there are booked for two months in advance. There is a dire need for more venues,” Khan said.
Theatre artiste and founder of the troupe Nishumbita, Ram Mohan Holagundi says, “I paid Rs 80,000 for a booking in January. This shows signs of art being commercialised. With barely any encouragement for artistes here, do we now shut shop?”
