Jailor, Jawan, Tinker, Spy: A tale of market distortion
₹203 and ₹350 respectively. In two cities with free pricing, it was nearly 9-10 times: ₹2,400 in Delhi and ₹2,300 in Mumbai. True, even without price caps, the prices for Jawan tickets would have been lower in India’s southern cities; it is a Hindi movie with no South Indian superstar.
The free-market prices in Chennai for the film would perhaps be closer to those in Kochi, Kerala, where the highest priced ticket for the first day was much higher—at ₹700. Now let us take an example of a South Indian movie. For the 4th weekend of Jailer, a Tamil movie starring superstar Rajinikanth, the top ticket was for ₹1,250 in Bengaluru, ₹600 in Kochi, ₹470 in Mumbai and ₹290 in Delhi.
In Chennai, Jawan or Jailer, the maximum price stays the same, around ₹200. If markets are not allowed to adjust prices by demand and supply, black markets inevitably take over, supplying tickets at several multiples of official prices, especially for first-day shows. Ardent fans are willing to pay such premiums.
The release of online tickets is also carefully managed. Media reports indicate that the unofficial release-day prices of Tamil films Jailer, Vijay’s Varisu and Ajith’s Thunivu were over ten times the Chennai cap. At an unreasonably low price cap, the average quality of the experience suffers.
Higher quality theatres with the latest audio-visual technology have higher fixed costs. No wonder Chennai does not have a single 4DX movie theatre. Also, the spread of multiplexes has been slower in Chennai and Hyderabad than in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.
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