Richa Chadha takes dig at unnamed ‘film leads with noses in air’, says it made less than 1/3rd the hero’s salary

Actor Richa Chadha has said that the South Indian film industry has ‘got their math right’ with respect to box office numbers and ticket prices. In a new interview, Richa slammed the Hindi film industry’s ‘greedy film distributors’ as their high ticket pricing results in a decrease in footfall in theatres. The actor added that in the South Indian film industry the price of the tickets is maintained within an affordable range even if the film is a hit. (Also Read | Ali Fazal posts ‘jetlag, fasting’ selfie, Richa Chadha orders him to buy groceries instead. Check out hilarious chat)

The South Indian film industry witnessed the release of several movies in theatres which did well at the box office. RRR, by SS Rajamouli, earned ₹246 crore at the box office within four weeks. The film also entered the ₹1,000 crore club worldwide within 16 days of its release. KGF Chapter 2, by Prashanth Neel, collected ₹134.50 crore on its opening day and later also crossed the ₹1000-crore mark.

In an interview with Indian Express, Richa said, “They’ve got their math right in terms of numbers and ticket prices. That’s why a Master opens to such numbers because a very dedicated fan club of a south megastar ventures out and watches the film. And unlike the Hindi film industry and its greedy film distributors, there they keep the ticket at ₹100-400 even if its a hit. But over here, due to a ticket priced above ₹400, footfall will decrease. Audience will pay for food and beverage. Naturally, cinema will suffer. It has more to do with the distribution.”

On the need to control the pricing of tickets in Hindi films, Richa added, “I don’t see that happening here, unless you are forced to. Recently, a film was released which I’m sure will come on OTT soon, its leads had their noses up in the air. And when the collection of first day came, it was less than one-third of what the hero charges. If this happens, how will your math work out? Those are the real questions one has to ask and work from there. The bigger stakeholders in the business should take the onus if cinema has to survive.”

Meanwhile, Richa has several projects in the pipeline including Fukrey 3. The film also features Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh and Varun Sharma. Directed by Mrigdeep Singh Lamba, the film is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment. She also has the fourth season of her popular web show Inside Edge, and the second season of Candy and The Great Indian Murder in the pipeline.