The ongoing trend of increasing movie ticket prices has stirred controversy, particularly in the case of Coolie and War 2. Producers of Telugu dubbed films have secured approval from the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments to raise ticket prices, a practice that has been steadily growing since the release of Baahubali. While this practice initially only affected big-budget films, it is now becoming standard for nearly every movie, regardless of its financial scale.

The latest movies to experience this price hike are Rajinikanth’s Coolie and Hrithik Roshan’s War 2. Both films, although featuring prominent Telugu actors, are dubbed films and not originally made in the Telugu language. This has led to growing criticism, particularly regarding the dubbed version of Coolie, which will cost Rs. 300-450 in Hyderabad, compared to Rs. 180-200 in Chennai multiplexes.

The controversy escalated as distributors Suresh Babu and Suniel Narang, who acquired the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana rights for Rs. 44 crore, were reported to have pushed for the price hike in order to recover their costs. Similarly, for War 2, producer Naga Vamsi spent a hefty Rs. 80 crore for the Telugu rights and also lobbied for higher ticket prices to offset the expenses.

This price increase has sparked outrage on social media, with many Telangana audiences expressing their discontent. Critics argue that the Telugu-speaking community is being unfairly burdened with high ticket prices for films that are not originally made in Telugu. As the price hikes become more frequent and widespread, the issue of fairness in pricing is likely to continue to fuel debate among moviegoers in the region.