As the wait to know why Kattappa killed Bahubali shortens, the queues at the theatres in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to get the movie ticket are stretching into kilometres. In most of the offices, work is on a break as the employees talk about the movie and their travails in getting a ticket.
The “Bahubali 2 – The Conclusion” frenzy has gripped the movie loving people of the two Telugu states, who have eagerly waited for the second part release for 21 months.
Considered as the magnum-opus of the Telugu cinema industry (popularly known as Tollywood), Bahubali was dubbed into Hindi, Tamil, Kannada etc languages and tasted an unprecedented success at the box-office when it was released in July 2015.
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The S S Rajamouli directed film sequence with Prabhas, Rana and Anushka in lead roles will be out on Friday for a worldwide release. Release of other movies is put on hold to avoid getting crushed under the weight of the most expensive movie in India till now. The movie is releasing in 6000 theatres across the country reportedly and almost all the theatres in Andhra and Telangana are going to show Bahubali2 from tomorrow.
As per a news report, bookmyshow, an online ticket booking site, has stated that the advance ticket booking sales across the languages have crossed the one million mark already.
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While online tickets are booked for a week, Bahubali lovers are trying their luck hopping from theatre to theatre for tickets. A video of a long queue of youth at the Prasads-IMAX in downtown Hyderabad, appearing to have stretched for over a KM is going viral on What’sApp etc social media platforms.
Anticipating a heavy rush and nodding to a request from the film makers and distributors, the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have allowed the movie to be played six and five times a day respectively in their state as against the normal four shows per day.
However, theatres hiking the ticket rates and selling at 30-50 percent above the normal rate of Rs 50-80 to cash in on the craze has infuriated many. In black market, the tickets are selling for Rs 1500-2000. In places like Vijayawada, Anantapuram, movie fans and student bodies have staged a protest at the theatres reproving the fleecing.
Telangana cinematography minister Talasani Srinivas has warned action against theatres and multiplexes selling tickets at a higher amount or offering them as a package with food items. The minister also stated that no permission is granted for the benefit shows as planned for Thursday evening.
