Overview
- The High Court set aside a Home Department memo that temporarily raised prices for The Raja Saab and rebuked officials for issuing what it called “clever memos.”
- The scrapped order had allowed Rs 105 increases for single screens and Rs 132 for multiplexes from Jan 9–11, then Rs 62 and Rs 89 from Jan 12–18, with 20% of the extra revenue to the Film Federation.
- Producers, BookMyShow and theatre owners cited the film’s scale, advance sales and livelihoods, but the judge said the court was ruling strictly on legality.
- Separately, the state approved higher rates for Chiranjeevi’s Mana Shankara Varaprasad Garu, including a Rs 600 paid premiere on Jan 11 and a seven-day rise of Rs 50 in single screens and Rs 100 in multiplexes, with 20% to a workers’ welfare account.
- The High Court declined to entertain an urgent plea against the Chiranjeevi hike and asked the petitioner to file a regular case on Jan 19, as it reiterated past orders suspending similar hikes and urged a policy review over film-by-film orders.