Kabali frenzy spreads, ticket prices soaring

July 20, 2016

Chennai, Jul 20: Make hay while Rajinikanth shines! This seems to be the mantra for theatre owners who are making a killing by selling “Kabali” tickets at exorbitant prices — much to the disappointment of hardcore superstar fans.

kabali

With “Kabali” slated to release in over 4,000 screens worldwide on Friday, the demand for its tickets is unprecedented.

“Most theatres across the state (Tamil Nadu) have sold out tickets for the opening weekend. With the average ticket costing Rs 600, most ardent Rajinikanth fans are disappointed that they couldn’t afford the tickets on the first day,” trade analyst Trinath said agency.

Despite Tamil Nadu government’s cap of Rs 120 on movie tickets, theatre owners have been selling “Kabali” tickets at five times higher than the original price.

“We are used to paying Rs 120 for movie tickets. But this sudden exponential increase in ticket price is very unfair. The prices vary according to the show timings. Early morning shows are sold at Rs 500-600 and the prices are slashed through the course of the day,” rues Santhosh Kumar, a second year college student.

Some fans are seething over unavailability of tickets because they were allegedly sold in bulk to corporates.

“We don’t have issues with the ticket prices. It’s once in two or three years, you get a Thalaivar (Rajinikanth’s) film. If you can’t shell out Rs 1,000 for your matinee idol, then what kind of a fan are you,” asks Muralikrishna, a chartered accountant.

Although most theatres give preference to fan club members, this year they seem to have favoured companies.

“Across major multiplexes, tickets on the first day were booked by corporates. Some of these companies booked in bulk even before the online booking started. I somehow managed to get a ticket through a friend.

“But when I tried to book five tickets for my family just minutes after online bookings opened, it didn’t even go through,” said Muralikrishna.

A theatre owner, on condition of anonymity, said the tickets were being sold at such high prices because of the high investment involved.

“The Chengalpet area rights of ‘Kabali’ were bought for a whopping Rs 18 crore. In order to make profits, the film should collect over Rs 30 crore. If the tickets are sold at Rs 120, it’s impossible to recover the investment in the first few days,” he said, and added that the opening weekend is very crucial for big-ticket films.

“The opening weekend is very important to recover as much as investment as possible. In the case of a Rajinikanth-starrer, only when you sell tickets at Rs 400-500, will you be able to see profits, provided the film opens to positive word-of-mouth.

“Despite taking in over Rs 100 crore, Rajinikanth’s ‘Lingaa’ turned out to be a dud because of the high investment involved,” he explained.

Directed by Pa. Ranjith, “Kabali” also stars Radhika Apte, Dinesh, Dhansikaa, Kalaiarasan, Kishore, John Vijay, Ritwika and Winston Chao, among others.

In the US, tickets for “Kabali” premiere on Thursday are priced at $25, as opposed to $14 or $15 for regular releases.

“As an Indian, when I start converting the ticket price into Indian money, it gives me a heart attack. But you don’t get to see two or three Rajinikanth releases in a year. I think it’s worth it for the euphoria his films bring,” Madhusudhan, who has been living in New York for over a decade, told agency.

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News Network
June 16,2020

Mumbai, Jun 16: The International Space University (ISU) in France has paid homage to Sushant Singh Rajput in a statement, saying the news of the actor's death was "deeply saddening".

Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday.

According to an official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the 34-year-old actor was under medication for depression.

The official Twitter handle of ISU on Monday tweeted how Rajput was supposed to visit the campus last year but was unable to due to scheduling conflict.

"We are deeply saddened by the dramatic news on the death of well known Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Mr Singh Rajput was a believer and strong supporter of STEM education and was following ISU on social media.

"He had even accepted an invitation to visit ISU's Central Campus in the summer of 2019 but other agenda priorities prevented him from travelling to Strasbourg," the statement by the university read.

ISU paid condolences to Rajput's family and friends, saying the actor's memory will "remain among his thousands of followers across India and all over the world".

Rajput had enrolled at Delhi Technical University (DTU) in 2003, which was then known as Delhi College of Engineering, but left the course to pursue his showbiz dreams.

Even after leaving the four-year degree course, he remained fascinated with science and had a deep interest in astronomy.

As part of his research for the film "Chanda Mama Door Ke", he also visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017.

Rajput had stayed in NASA to train for his role as an astronaut for the film, which was eventually shelved.

The actor also owned Meade 14" LX600 telescope.

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News Network
April 30,2020

Mumbai, Apr 30: Rishi Kapoor, the romantic star of many a Bollywood film who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018, died in a Mumbai hospital on Thursday, his brother Randhir Kapoor said. He was 67.

Rishi, a third generation actor of the famous Kapoor dynasty, is survived by his wife Neetu Kapoor, actor son Ranbir and daughter Ridhima.

"He is no more. He has passed away," Randhir said.

Rishi was taken to the H N Reliance hospital by his family on Wednesday.

His death comes a day after after his "D-Day" co-star Irrfan Khan passed away, also of cancer. Three months ago, the disease claimed his sister Ritu Nanda.

"Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8:45am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukemia. The doctors and medical staff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last.

He remained jovial and determined to live to the fullest right through two years of treatment across two continents. Family, friends, food and films remained his focus and everyone who met him during this time was amazed at how he did not let his illness get the better of him, the family said in a statement.

Rishi returned to India last September after undergoing treatment for his cancer in the US for almost a year.

In February, he was hospitalised twice.

He was first admitted to a hospital in Delhi where he was attending a family function. At the time, he had said he was suffering from an "infection".

After his return to Mumbai, he was again admitted to a hospital with viral fever. He was discharged soon after.

Rishi made his first screen appearance as a child artiste in his father Raj Kapoor's film Shri 420 , where he appeared in the song Pyaar hua ekraar hua . This was followed by "Mera Naam Joker". But it was in 1973, with the blockbuster Bobby , again directed by his father, that he made his debut as a romantic hero. He continued to be a favourite romantic hero for almost three decades.

His notable films as a romantic hero are "Laila Majnu", "Rafoo Chakkar", "Karz", "Chandni", "Heena" and "Saagar".

He was, however, more proud of his second innings as an actor, which he found more satisfying. His notable films as a character artiste are "Do Dooni Chaar" with wife Neetu, "Agnipath" and "Kapoor & Sons".

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News Network
March 11,2020

Washington, Mar 11: Pop star Selena Gomez made some revelations about her personal life in a recent interview.

While explaining the lyrics of her song "Rare" on the 'Genius' YouTube channel, the 27-year-old said that there are times when she feels that she will ever be able to find a suitable partner for herself, reported Fox News.

"Some days when I wake up and I am annoyed and I am like, 'I am going to be alone forever.' But after that 15 minutes go away, I say to myself, 'I know that there is someone for everybody," the singer told in the seven-and-a-half minute long video.

However, she remains optimistic as she is still young and "this isn't the end all be all".

Elaborating upon the chorus of her song, Gomez opened up and said, "self-esteem and confidence is a constant struggle".

"It's getting better with time and age, but it will always be something that I'm working on," she added while explaining the lyrics further.

"So what I think is so important about this chorus is that it's acknowledging, 'Hey, I don't have it all. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I do know that I'm special,' and I think that is a humble approach of saying, 'Why don't you see that I am different?'" the singer added as reported by Fox News.

Touching upon her experiences from past relationships, she commented: "In certain relationships, I've heard and I've experienced and whatnot, I think men and women do it -- especially teenagers and young people in love -- is there's this satisfaction out of hurting someone because you know that they care. Purposefully putting someone down because they want to keep them at a level. I've had someone actually say that to me before".

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