Andhra online movie ticket sales: Pawan Kalyan raises concerns, Nani extends support

Pawan Kalyan had expressed his displeasure over the Andhra government’s recent move to sell movie tickets online and raised other issues related to the Telugu film industry.
Actor and politician Pawan Kalyan
Actor and politician Pawan Kalyan
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A war of words broke out between actor-politician Pawan Kalyan and a few Andhra Pradesh ministers after the former expressed his displeasure over the proposed online movie ticket booking system and raised other issues related to the Telugu film industry, at a pre-release event for the movie Republic on Saturday.

Reacting to the Andhra government’s recent move to sell movie tickets online, Pawan Kalyan alleged that the motive was to show it as part of revenue to banks and thereby get more loans. The actor added that while it is the producers who make the movies with a lot of investment, the Andhra government wants to sell tickets and profit from it.

Extending his support to Pawan Kalyan, actor Nani also tweeted: “Keeping aside the political differences between Pawan Kalyan sir and AP Government. The film industry issues addressed are genuine and need immediate attention. Thank you @PawanKalyan sir (sic).” Karthikeya, another young Tollywood actor, also tweeted in support saying Pawan Kalyan was speaking on behalf of the entire industry.

However, Andhra ministers went into defensive mode and countered the actor’s statement. Endowments Minister Vellampalli Srinivas Rao said, “What’s wrong if the government wants to sell tickets and reduce the burden on the common man? Even during the release of Vakeel Saab, Pawan Kalyan’s last movie, several theatres had sold tickets in black at higher prices. If Pawan Kalyan is concerned, he should reduce his remuneration instead of questioning the government.” Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Minister Perni Nani, referring to the latest Telugu release, Love Story, said that the film has generated more revenue in Andhra Pradesh than in Telangana.

Meanwhile, the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) released an official statement and said that people who are expressing their opinions on social media platforms are not the voice of the industry as a whole.

The TFCC statement added, “We are immensely grateful to the government, under the leadership of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for patiently understanding and positively responding to all our concerns and assuring us that all our concerns will be favourably addressed in the near future.” It further said, “The Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the two eyes of our film industry and both our chief ministers have been proactive and always extended their encouragement and support to us.”

As reported earlier by TNM, after a meeting with delegates from Tollywood on September 20 the Andhra government announced that it would roll out the online movie ticketing system, saying that the move will ensure transparency, bring in uniform rates, help curb black-marketing of tickets, and stop any tax evasion by cinema theatres.

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