Ram Charan's Peddi is set to release in Telangana without ticket price hikes after the makers withdrew their petition from the Telangana High Court. The development comes in sharp contrast to Andhra Pradesh, where the film has secured special premiere shows along with additional ticket hikes for its opening run. Well, this move seems to be treading a tiny line that would make it appear as a curse or a boon.
From a box-office perspective, the decision is a curse for producers as it could have a direct impact on Peddi's opening-day and opening-weekend records. In recent years, premium pricing has become an important factor behind the massive opening numbers posted by big-star releases. Also, with many producers planning for maximum recovery within the opening weekend, this move is going to affect the revenue big time, in a case where movie disappoints audiences.
Nizam area, particularly becomes significant as Ram Charan's market is strong in the area and it yielded major revenues in his hits like Magadheera, Rangasthalam, RRR and even disasters like Bruce Lee, Vinaya Vidheya Rama, Game Changer managed decent revenues with strong opening day boost. Now, Peddi might struggle even with positive word-of-mouth to recover costs at a faster rate.
On the other hand, this big step might turn into a boon in the longer run. Audiences turnout has drastically reduced in every region and Summer season for Telugu Cinema has been a nightmare with no big releases and except for Suriya's Veerabhadhrudu drawing some traction. So, Peddi becomes the desperate lifeline in this scenario.
The theatres need the film to sustain the crowds over the weekend and first week at least to be able to run the engine until next big or popular release. If ticket rates remain at the same range as today, there is an outside chance of family audiences walking into the theatres even with a mixed word of mouth. The occupancies would raise and collections will be steady.
So, from fans point of view, it is a curse and can be seen as a forced limitation in favour of other stars, who did get hikes. But they should remember that the hikes for ticket rates during first week and weekend got popular with Baahubali but prior to that at normal ticket prices, films did collect huge revenues. As the OTT market has crashed, it is important for producers to sustain minimum run at theatres for their films.
Some pointed at theatres selling black tickets at twice the probable hiked pricing. Remember, only few can afford black tickets at such exorbitant prices, many would prefer to stand in queues or buy online. With hikes, it appears as if producers pushing everybody who wants to watch their film to pay more than they would be happy about. This trend will only kill theatre viewing habit and won't boost it.
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