Theatre should be accessible to the middle class: Maha finance minister on GST

While bigticket productions like Ank Theatres Jis Lahore Nahin Dekhya cast seen here in the makeup room continue to draw crowds despite GST and higher prices its the experimental groups that are the worst hit Prithvis manager Lalit Sathe says performances by indie groups make up almost 60 per cent of Prithvis programming calendar PicSameer MarkandeYesterday 31 ministers including finance and deputy chief ministers from across India arrived in Hyderabad for a daylong Goods and Services Tax GST Council meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley The 21st meeting since the inception of the uniform taxation and the third since its rollout on July 1 was held to take stock of its implementation and address hiccupsMaharashtra finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had hoped to request the council to review the hefty 18 per cent GST on tickets to theatrical performances priced higher than Rs 250 Theatre should be accessible to the middle class We wish to push for an increase in the ticket price limit to Rs 500 Im certain the government will agree However time didnt permit us to bring up the issue Im hoping to take it up at next months review he told middayHarsh Shah and Omkar Bhatkar rehearse for their new play Fly On that opens next month Omkar says he will price the tickets at Rs 250 PicPradeep DhivarThe push comes at the behest of a 15member delegation of Mumbais theatrewallahs including eminent Gujarati producers Bharat Thakkar and Kaustubh Trivedi and wellknown Marathi actordirector Ashok Hande who met Mungantiwar and state cultural minister Vinod Tawde at Mantralaya on June 27 to discuss their apprehensionPrasad Kambli producer and president of theatre artistes body Marathi Natya Nirmata Sangh Mumbai was part of the delegation He explains that although a 15 per cent service tax was earlier levied by the centre it only applied to tickets priced above Rs 500 We didnt face the burden we do now because most of our tickets are priced between Rs 300 and Rs 350 In the last two months 90 per cent of Marathi theatre producers have slashed their rates to Rs 250 bearing a Rs 50rupee loss per ticket Close to one lakh people in Maharashtra depend on theatre for their livelihood The industry will survive only if the GST revision comes into place he saysBhushan Korgaonkar of Kali Billi Productions Below says he cannot afford to lower ticket rates in the hope of skirting GST because the lavani dancers who arrive in Mumbai from across Maharashtra for the Sangeet Bari performances have to be provided both travel expenses and stayCount the stubsLalit Sathe manager at Juhus Prithvi Theatre ratifies Kamblis claimRight after the GST rollout most Hindi and English language theatre groups performing at Prithvi slashed their admission rates fearing audience rejection Darshak Utsav a sixday stage fest held in July by Makarand Deshpandes Ansh lowered its weekday show prices from Rs 300 to Rs 250 A quick calculation of what that means for the 200seater venue reveals a difference of Rs 10000Sathe suggests that the prominent theatre groups might be able to tide over the challenge Anks critically acclaimed production Jis Lahore Nahin Dekhya staged last Sunday at Prithvi despite selling tickets at R535 witnessed over 80 per cent occupancyThe firstweek shows of Naseeruddin Shahs ambitious production The Father which is set to enjoy a monthlong run at NCPAs Experimental Theatre have also been doing well despite a Rs 590 ticket Writerdirector Omkar Bhatkar says its because theatre enjoys a loyal audience Unlike a film which comes to TV or online a play can only be experienced liveBut its the indie productions that have had to make a compromise Prateik BabbarJackky Bhagnani starrer Riddles staged at Jeff Goldberg Studio in Khar and O Frida a solo act on the Mexican artiste held at The Drama School Mumbai DSM which operates out of Girgaons Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh premises capped their prices at Rs 250 The big groups form only 40 per cent of Prithvis programming calendar It will be difficult for the rest especially experimental groups says SatheOne theatre one taxVeteran writerdirector Sunil Shanbag cannot understand why unlike food theatre has been subjected to a uniform GST slab In the food sector products for daily consumption are taxed lower than luxury eats so why not follow the same rule for theatre asks Shanbag who priced tickets for both his productions Words Have Been Uttered and Stories In A Song R300 GST The idea for a R250 ticket was not viable at all he says Made on a shoestring budget Words Have Been Uttered is a 75minute piece themed on dissent to be staged today at Studio Tamaasha in AndheriOn the other hand Stories In A Song which premiered in 2012 is a magnum opus with music conceptualised by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan A fortnight ago it was staged in Mumbai for two shows only I could have hiked the price to Rs 400 but with an additional 18 per cent tax the ticket price would have shot up drastically he says Even on a Rs 300 ticket Shanbag says a patron ends up shelling out Rs 80 to Rs 100 more now since online booking portals also subject to GST have to be paid handling fees Almost 70 per cent of ticket sales happen via portals So experimental theatre which always walks the tightrope of economics is facing the heatSunil ShanbagStuck in the GST webPricing tickets over Rs 250 leads to headaches beyond drop in footfall It means a producer has to register for a GST number file monthly returns and hire a chartered accountant for Rs 10000month Bhushan Korgaonkar writerproducer at Kali Billi Productions is behind Sangeet Bari the popular indie production that sees lavani performers from across Maharashtra take centre stage before metropolitan audiences With tickets priced at Rs 415 he staged two shows at Prithvi on August 19 The evening show was packed but the other witnessed only 50 per cent occupancy But we cant reduce prices because we need to incur travel expensesGerish Khemani director of Ripples a play that has seen a steady run since 2015 wishes to take the production to Delhi by the yearend but a Rs 250 ticket wont even cover his travel cost He says Im still trying to figure a rate that assures an audience without burdening themPrasad KambliPostGST Bhatkar estimates an overall 30 per cent increase in production costs whether its renting a venue sourcing costumes or opting for print advertisements Since most of the sector is unorganised we have been unable to get the input credit amount paid as tax while acquiring resources we have to bear Actors whose fees go beyond Rs 15 lakh also charge GST Theatre was never a profitmaking venture We are still trying to figure our budgets to understand the full implication of GST says Ragini Khushwaha programme head DSM echoing the sentiment of the experimental theatre fraternity