Vishakhapatanam: As many as 185 cinema theatres have so far got closed across Andhra Pradesh after the state government slashed movie ticket prices, disclosed Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce exhibitors' sector chairman T.S. Ramprasad.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, he said while 58 theatres are from Krishna district, 57 are from East Godavari and the remaining 70 theatres are from other districts.
Kakinada’s Srilakshmi theatre owner P. Srinivasa Rao said, “A film theatre in a B or C centre needs at least ₹ 3 lakh per month for maintenance, including payment of salaries to employees and electricity charges. If, as per present government order, theatres start selling tickets for ₹ 5, ₹ 10, ₹ 15 and ₹ 20 per ticket, the average income per month will be around ₹ 35,000. Because of this, theatre managements have no choice but to shut them down.
Srinivasa Rao maintained that state government will have to fix a minimum ₹ 100 as ticket price even in villages for theatres to survive.
Vizag’s Kinnera theatres' owner Perla Sambamurthy maintained that theatres in towns and cities have so far not been affected by the new ticket price system. But they do not know how things will be in the future.
A film theatre owner at Vijayawada said running theatres is a seasonal business. They can manage their annual expenditures only by screening special shows during festivals, summer vacations and so on.
