Since yesterday evening, discussions around ticket price hikes for Coolie and War 2 have taken over social media. Speculation spread quickly that the producers had already increased rates significantly, which frustrated fans and regular moviegoers. Many voiced anger over price increases for dubbed films too, with some even calling for boycotts.
These concerns have now been addressed, as Telangana officials confirmed that ticket prices for both films will not go beyond the current maximum cap. Multiplex tickets will remain at Rs. 295 and single-screen tickets at Rs. 175, keeping them accessible for most audiences. While higher pricing is understandable for original pan-India films in their native languages, hiking rates for dubbed versions feels unfair to viewers.
War 2, for instance, received a straight censor certificate using advanced lip-sync technology, but it is still primarily a Hindi film. Expecting higher prices just because NTR and Nagarjuna appear in the Telugu dubbed version does not make sense to the average audience.
Advance bookings for both War 2 and Coolie have already begun in Telangana at these capped prices, and the move by the state government has been widely appreciated. The opening response has been impressive, with War 2 trending at 21,000 tickets per hour, fuelled by NTR fans and Telugu cinema enthusiasts.
However, Coolie has taken the lead in spectacular fashion. After recovering from a brief slowdown, it is now selling more than 50,000 tickets per hour, more than double War 2’s numbers. BookMyShow’s latest hourly figures show Coolie at 51,660 tickets per hour compared to War 2’s 20,560. The buzz around Coolie is so strong that it is behaving like a solo release, while many hope War 2 will close the gap soon.
On social media, fans are following these figures like election results. As things stand, the trend is strongly in Coolie’s favour, and if this continues, it could create a negative perception around War 2 and affect its performance. With ticket price caps likely reducing day-one share revenue by 20 to 30 percent, War 2 needs to gain momentum quickly to stay competitive.
