Bangalore:
Onions, petrol, rail fare and movie tickets: these disparate items are all becoming dearer for the residents of Bangalore.
Watching a movie over the weekend is a costly affair here, where tickets cost anywhere between Rs 350 and Rs 800.
The parking fee for cars for a minimum of four hours costs between Rs 150 and Rs 200. The prices of the gastronomic delights available inside the multiplex sometimes cost more than the movie ticket!
The Congress government had promised to introduce uniform fares to contain the multiplex lobby in January.
But, in an interview to NDTV, state Information Minister Roshan Baig said, "I used to feel the pinch as a movie-goer. But then we are not paying for the ticket alone. Chennai has uniform rates of Rs 120 and we wanted to bring the same to control the prices imposed by multiplex owners, but I realized it cannot work. Malls are now turning away from Chennai. But I have ordered multiplex owners in Bangalore to reduce prices of food items because they are very expensive".
Professionals working in the city's booming Information-Technology sector now complain about feeling short-changed by the shooting prices.
"If they keep increasing prices like this, I won't be surprised if piracy goes up," said Vikram Bharat, a movie buff.
The film industry has also realised that high ticket prices may keep moviegoers away.
Actors Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, who recently visited Bangalore to promote their film
Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania, made an appeal to the state government and exhibitors.
"We definitely want prices of tickets to be reduced. It is affecting us all, but mainly the movie goers," said Alia Bhatt.
"My humble appeal to the exhibitors is: please do not increase prices to such an extent that the common man cannot afford them," said Varun.