Telangana High Court hears petitions challenging ‘Game Changer’ ticket price hike

Raises concerns about safety of moviegoers, especially minors, who stand at theatres during wee hours at night

Hyderabad: Justice B Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Thursday took on two writ pleas challenging the Telangana State Home Department’s decision permitting Game Changer‘s screening with a total of six shows in a day on Friday and five for nine days (from January 11-18) for the movie with a runtime of 2 hours 45 minutes of each show.

Gorla Bharatraj and another person filed these cases raising contentions that the hike in prices was a financial burden for moviegoers. It was further stated that there was a time gap between the shows with potential danger to moviegoers. The petitioners also criticised the State government for turning back on its stand after the Pushpa 2 incident and permitting benefit shows again.

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During the course of the hearing, Justice Reddy raised concerns about the safety of moviegoers, especially minors, who stand at theatres during wee hours at night. He wondered what was the need for the additional shows for famous hero movies as people wait and watch as and when they get the opportunity.

On the other hand, the judge also wondered how the petitioners were concerned with the discretion of moviegoers who want to watch movies in the early hours of the day and opined that the petitioners should have filed a public interest litigation.

However, the judge wanted to know what measures were taken to ensure the safety of audience between the shows. The judge adjourned the case to Friday for the instructions of the Home Department.