Infuriated by the “extortionate prices” set for Bahubali 2 - The Conclusion, Telugu movie buffs in the United States say they would wait out the frenzy to watch the film a few days later.
The milestone movie which is released worldwide on Friday is priced as high as 42 $ for the premier shows in some of the theatres in the US, disappointing many Bahubali devotees who waited for about two years for the concluding part of the epic story.
Telugus form a big chunk of the NRI community in the US and are settled in large numbers in states like Texas, New Jersey, and California. Telugu movies are released regularly and with a fanfare if they are of stars like Pawan Kalyan, Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun; the reigning stars of Tollywood.
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However, overpriced tickets of such movies have been riling the American Telugu community for some time now. And Bahubali distributors, they say, took “the extortion to a new height,” to cash in on the craze.
“Even for the IMAX, $42 is very steep. $30 per ticket as charged in some other theatres is also high compared to $25 for day one premiers of other Telugu mega movies,” Santhosh Vysyaraju, a techie from Andhra, based in Houston, Texas tells Outlook.
“This is what we are forced to pay for our Telugu film when we watch blockbuster Hollywood movies for under 20 $ in IMAX. I am dying to know why Kattappa killed Bahubali but I can live with the mystery for a few more days and watch the movie next week when the ticket prices become realistic,” Vysyaraju said.
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“The film makers and distributors can expect profits but should not rip-off their patrons. A family of four has to shell out over Rs 10,000 to watch Bahubali. Is this any fair?” asks another Telugu from Dallas.
The Ottawa Telugu Association has reportedly issued a stern warning of boycotting the movie following which the distributor in Canada has halved the ticket price from a planned $30.
A few other Telugus said that they would instead watch the Hindi version priced at around $10 a ticket.
However, there are some fans who won’t mind paying through their nose to watch the path-breaking Telugu film. “There are some die-hard fans in my apartment who are going for the day 1 premier priced at $33. I have a lesser itch and will watch the movie a few days later, after hearing the reviews,” says Harinath Sadhu, another Telugu techie, in Texas.
The fleecing seems is not limited to the US. Despite warnings from the Andhra and Telangana governments, some of the theatres in places like Tirupati have allegedly sold the premier ticket at Rs 2000 - twenty times the normal cost.
