Baahubali 2 tickets sold in Bengaluru at exorbitant rates; has it deterred the spirit of fans?

Baahubali 2 fever has gripped Bengaluru like any other metro city in India. SS Rajamouli's multilingual movie is releasing in four languages -- Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi -- in Karnataka. While advance booking of the film started in the city from Monday, full-fledged booking will commence from Wednesday. In spite of the huge craze, the fancy rates for the tickets have worried a section of fans, who hope that the state government's proposal on the cap on tickets will come into effect from May 1.

In Bengaluru, the price of the tickets are as higher as Rs 600 for Prabhas and Rana Daggubati's film and it is expected to reach close to Rs 900. Cashing in on the unprecedented craze, single screens have revised their normal rates and charging double the usual rate in many centres. Single screens like Vaishnavi are selling tickets at a never-before price of Rs 250-300.

"We wanted to watch the film this week itself, but as the government has promised to implement Rs 200 cap from May 1, I will be watching it next week," Deepak, an engineering student, told International Business Times, India.

In the annual budget, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that tickets in multiplexes will be capped at Rs 200. However, it was not implemented and the multiplexes claimed that they have not received any intimation from the government.

Later, Siddaramaiah stated that all the hurdles related to the issue will be cleared and implemented from May 1, which will be three days after Baahubali 2's release on April 28. "If implemented, it will be great news for fans in Karnataka and especially in Bengaluru. But it will have a huge impact on it business," a trade expert told International Business Times, India.

"Imagine if the maximum ticket price was restricted to Rs 200, Baahubali 2 would be a big loser as at least 50-80 percent revenue will be lost due to this new rule. The first instalment had minted over Rs 65 crore in Karnataka and the distributors had earned somewhere between Rs 35-38 crore in the state. Even half of these numbers would not be achieved in Karnataka if the rule was implemented in April itself," a distributor had told us earlier.

However, it looks like high rates have not deterred the spirit of hardcore fans as they are willing to pay the extra buck to enjoy the movie in the first weekend itself. "I watched the first instalment of Baahubali paying Rs 500 in Bengaluru. Now, I have booked ticket for Baahubali 2 for the same amount. I cannot wait till the government implements the cap," said Aditya, an IT employee.