I’d been to a theater named Kailash yesterday to watch the movie Bhul bhulaiya. I’ve already seen the Malayalam and the Tamil versions of this film, so the movie wasn’t something that really interested me. What was more interesting is the way the Black ticket modus operandi that the theater management deploys.
They’re basically three types of tickets that are sold in this theater Rs30, Rs50 and Rs60. These are probably the rates which the Karnataka Goverment has set for medium rung theatres in the state ( I’m not a movie buff so I’m quite oblivious of the current rates :) ) . The show was at around 4:30 pm and we’d reached the theater well ahead of time at around 2:30 just to get the tickets. They were about fifteen people ahead of us in the queue and we were pretty sure we’d get the tickets this time. By the time we reached the counter, we were told that only four thirty rupees tickets were available and all other tickets were sold out. The hall as far as I know has no advanced booking facility and no internet booking. It is spacious enough to seat atleast 150 people and this guy here says he’s sold out all the tickets!! A few minutes later, the same guy comes out with a bunch of tickets in his hands , stands near the gate and starts selling the tickets for almost double the cost!!
I do agree Black tickets are sold in almost every theater but never to this extent. And here the worst part is that the management by itself is organizing it!! Tickets in the so called A grade thatres like PVR and INOX are around 200 bucks so the public doesn’t even mind paying about 100 bucks to watch the movie in these theatres. Everyone gains…the management in selling the tickets at a higher rate to a tout, the tout in making around 20Rs per ticket by selling it to the public and the public in purchasing the ticket at half the price when compared to those in A Grade theaters. At the fag end, it’s all about watching the movie!!
True, Everyone’s bothered about his money. But people don’t realize what effect this has on their overall cost of living. The government perceives this to be a pointer of the status of living of the public and increased rates are benchmarked. The same logic was put forth by a friend of mine for the high real estate value in Bangalore or any metropolitan for that instance. A land owner having a couple of batchelors staying in his quarters raises the house rent giving due consideration to the fact that the amount is shared. A rise of about 2k isn’t really a pinch in the wallet for a group of about four to five people staying together in a metro. The owner gets an increased income from practically no increased investment of his and the tenant is, if not more happy, contented to stay at the same location for some more time. Both sides stay happy for sometime till the next cycle of change and then it’s the same state of affairs again.
Anyways! How does it matter to me or you….(or does it? ;-) ). All that I wanted to do was to watch Bhul Bhullaiya. ( Should have given ‘Bourne Ultimatum’ or ‘Next’ a shot instead :( ) .