Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi’s recent decision of cutting cinema ticket prices at multiplexes has met with scepticism.

The Uncommon Common Man thinks its yet another crazy decision taken by the CM and expects a negative impact on investment and jobs in multiplexes in TN.

No multiplex owner in his right mind would make any investment in Tamil Nadu, going ahead for starters. Besides robbing the Tamil Nadu cinema fan (and god knows there are too many in this tribe) of a quality movie experience, this will result in a loss of employment . Don’t underestimate the amount of employment a multiplex generates. The ones I know employ anywhere from 100-500 (direct and indirect employment) per multiplex, dependinng on the size. And which section of the society are getting employed as shop hands, cleaners, security and parking attendants, cooks and waiters?

Linking to the above post, Kaps also expects multiplexes to resort to other measures to compensate for the price cut.

If the price is capped, there would be less incentive for movie halls to provide superior service and to differentiate their offering. A/c halls might even switch off the A/c’s (as it used to be done in the past) half-way through the movie so that they can save on the power cost. Parking charges might go up and the price of the snacks could be jacked up to supplement the revenue loss.