Too expensive an affair

That Bangalore is a cultural hub is a known fact. Nearly every week, the City witnesses an array of dance and music recitals, theatre performances and film screenings.

People from different walks of life come together to enjoy these cultural programmes. But of late, many of these are becoming very expensive, making it difficult for the common man to watch these shows on a regular basis.

Most of the organisers argue that due to the rising costs in the City, they have no choice but to increase the rates of the programmes.

Many English plays charge from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 and above. And if there are big names from the film industry like Lillette Dubey, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah or foreign theatre artistes coming, then the cost of a ticket increases even more.
While most organisers argue that getting these big artistes to the City to perform does involve a lot of costing, people who finally come to see them perform, say that the ticket rates burn a hole in their pocket.

Dhananjay, a professional, agrees. “I had gone for a play staged by Naseeruddin Shah at Chowdiah Hall. Each ticket was priced at Rs 1,500. Though it said that the proceeds would go to charity, taking my whole family made it a very expensive affair. It is rather surprising that one has to shell out so much money to watch a play,” he adds.
One faces a similar situation when it comes to music and dance recitals too, be it contemporary dance-drama or Hindustani classical concert.

When bigwigs like actress Shobhana, Pandit Jasraj, Hariprasad Chourasia and others come, the tickets become all the more expensive. It is only when local artistes are performing or when concerts are sponsored by the department of culture, that the events are generally free or through invitation.

Later this month, there will recitals by ‘Chitrasena Dance Company’, which will be charging up to Rs 1,000 and a Shubha Mudgal concert, the tickets for which would go  up to Rs 1,500.

There will also be a sarod recital by Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan along with his sons Amaan Ali and Ayaan Ali at the Jaymahal Palace. The tickets for this are priced from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,500.

Rashi, a student, says, “These artistes are crowd-pullers but that’s no reason to price these shows so high. As students, one would like to be exposed to all kinds of cultural programmes but with such high prices, it is not possible to attend them all.”

Vineeth, a professional beat-boxer, too has observed that many events in the City have been increasing their entry fee.

 “The cost of living is surely increasing but unfortunately, our pay packages aren’t keeping up to it. And the rate at which these events are increasing their ticket rates, I feel it will soon discourage youngsters like us to attend them,” he sums up.