State budget’s landmark initiatives for Kannada cinema , Movie ticket prices to be capped at 200 rupees

In a major boost to the Kannada film industry, during his historic 16th budget, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced a slew of measures aimed at facilitating reach and development. Here are the highlights:

‘₹200 price cap will boost cinema attendance’
Capping the price at `200 is a great initiative to bring in more footfall to theatres because ticket prices of some of the films are now priced enormously high. Watching films in theatres is a community experience, and a lot of people like to watch films in groups. Enormously-priced tickets will make this section of audience think twice, and chances are they will seek some other avenue for entertainment. But for filmmakers, the `200 cap may not work. The number of people who watch films in Karnataka are very less when compared to states like Andhra and Telangana. What we need now is a committee that can exempt big budget films from this cap. OTT is another much-needed great initiative. Hopefully, it is not just another move to please the people, but will be actually implemented. So is the Film City, which is announced in every other budget. I hope government sets up a panel to see why the Film City did not take off despite announcing it multiple times. When the panel is formed, I hope the government takes notice of people who are working for the welfare of the industry, keeping the future in mind, and not hand it over to an inactive group, which will delay the project again.
— Karthik Gowda, filmmaker

‘The Film City initiative is a welcome move’
Setting up a Film City is undoubtedly a very good move. Hopefully it will be implemented this time. When it comes to capping the prices at `200, it is both good and a bad move. Yes, there is a section of audience that needs tickets for cheaper price. But now the audience mindset has changed a lot. Most of them only watch big films that give larger-than-life experience in theatres, and for the rest, they wait and watch it on OTT. When there is a `200 cap, producers will think twice before investing huge sums on a film. The industry is already suffering, and mid-range films are not working in theatres. In Andhra and Telangana, a few high-budget films are exempted from the price cap. Something like that should be done here as well. If it is a universal cap, then producers will think twice before making a big-budget film or rope in a big hero.
— Chaluve Gowda, co-founder, Hombale group