HYDERABAD: Telugu filmgoers are in for a rude shock if the proposal of several senior and top producers to jack up admission rates in the first two weeks of the release of top stars' films comes by.

The proposal has vertically divided Telugu filmmakers with a large section of Tollywood, mostly producers making movies on smaller budgets, opposing it.

Subsidies

As per the proposal, the tariff for the films of Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna and Venkatesh would be sold for higher price for the first two weeks of the release and could stretch up to Rs. 100 approximately.

Top producers, after declaring the proposal to the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce, are said to be mulling forwarding it to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, much to the chagrin of many in the industry.

Apparently, the subsidies announced by the State Government were not appealing enough to them.

The high cost of production of films of top-notch heroes and the abysmally poor returns at the box office seem to be the reason for the proposal.

But, industry experts dismiss the idea saying the ace producers had cooked their own goose by going in for huge budgets to create a craze among buyers. According to reports, Movie Artistes Association president M. Mohan Babu came down heavily on the proposal while a film producer, N. Kumar, even threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike if it was not withdrawn.

Piracy feared

"The move will only lead to rampant video piracy and black marketing apart from burdening the filmgoers," he told a press conference.

"This is the outcome of a few selfish individuals in the industry. What is the parameter to decide whether a film is big or small? Given the high production costs, even the smallest of films will cost in excess of Rs. 6 to 7 crores. Isn't it a big film that way?" a film producer sought to know on condition of anonymity. The move is discriminatory in nature and can be the very undoing of the industry," another MAA member said.

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