The Andhra Pradesh government created headlines when it announced that movie tickets would have to be sold at prices fixed by the government, and through an online platform run by the government; and also that there would be no permissions for any extra, benefit or special shows. The biggest shock was for the exhibition industry, from this announcement, and subsequently, the pre-release business in AP dipped very low.
Despite the announcement, the GO hasn’t yet been put in proper place, as some technical errors have been reported. As a result, theatre owners are selling tickets at their own prices, and several theatres have been showing extra shows in a day as well. Two theatres have been closed in AP so far, due to extra shows, one Undavalli in Guntur district and the other at Mylavaram in Krishna district.
Some local MLAs had even admitted to bribing the local authorities so that tickets could be sold at their own prices. With so much happening, and with reports of the AP government likely to ease the restrictions, it is now to be seen what will happen.