What is happening in malls? Apart from prices of movie tickets and parking of vehicles being exorbitant, what was too shocking and alarming was the cost of popcorn which is available for 100, 200 and 300 rupees. The actual cost of these packs of popcorn should be not more than five rupees. Even after considering the various other costs involved, they can charge 20 rupees or 30 rupees, but why should they recover more than 300% of the product cost? When we complained about this matter the vendor said, as long as customers are willing to purchase the product we will continue to charge for it.
Why we are wasting our hard earned money and making these fellows rich? Let us curb the temptation and boycott popcorn and teach them a lesson. On an average atleast 500 people watch a movie at one screen and if 300 people buy this popcorn they make easily 25 to 30000 rupees in one show per screen. You will be shocked to know that this money runs into lakhs per day per show in just one city.
Come on friends lets, stop buying popcorn at multiplexes. I sure within three months the product cost will come down to at least 50 rupees, if not 20 rupees. We visit multiplex for the sake of enjoyment and entertainment and popcorn play a pivotal role in bringing people together. It is a matter of great concern people invariably pay heavy price for buying popcorn most of the time. Our hard earned savings will go waste on popcorn if you see four to five films in a month from a family which includes five and more members. There is no stopping on price menace in this popcorn pocket as people treat it as prestige symbol, if they are consuming it during the interval.
There is no one to catch hold of the miscreants. The crisis had taken a serious turn in the absence of adequate consumer awareness in public domain. Food adulteration is causing great concern on the highly saleable items. In a first in the history of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Maharashtra, a huge quantity of artificially ripened bananas was destroyed by the Inspecting Officials. Bananas were being ripened using a lethal chemical normally used in the wedding industry. Popcorn politics will open a new chapter and people should realise the need to buy these items only when absolutely required and boycott by rejecting the item in majority to make the vendors realise the need for reduction in prices.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
