Is Fun City Fizzling Out?

WHEN electronics engineer K. Ramesh Kumar, 40, took his wife and school-going son to a movie on a Saturday evening to follow it up withdinner at a popular tandoori restaurant in Bangalore last fortnight, he wasn't quite prepared for the unpleasant, lingering aftertaste. The outing had cost the Central Government employee nearly Rs 600, Rs 100 over what it normally came to. The difference was not hefty enough to make a major impact on Kumar's five-figure salary, but it was sufficient to make him realise that the frequency of outings would have to be reduced. 

This is a realisation much of Bangalore is slowly waking up to, after Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Siddaramaiah sprung a nasty surprise in his state budget. "I propose to increase the tax rates," he said in his budget speech on March 18, even as the state was still rejoicing over P. Chidambaram's popular budget that sent the markets and consumer confidence soaring. The hammer came down on articles of food and drink catered in hotels—a tax rate increase from 12 to 20 per cent in star hotels and from 4 to 8 per cent in other hotels. A 10 per cent increase was imposed on the tax on Indian Made Foreign Liquor. Plus, a 5 per cent tax hike on beer in a state, the capital of which also doubles as the country's beer capital.

 Siddaramaiah also reverted to the pre-'95 structure of entertainment tax collected from cinema halls in the state. Under this, cinema halls screening non-Kannada films had to pay 55 per cent of the amount from actual ticket sales, with a surcharge of 55 per cent on the tax—a 110 per cent total increase. The result of the 'retrograde' decision: a hike in ticket prices of non-Kannada movies ranging from 25 per cent to 50 per cent for the various stalls. And this in a 'cosmopolitan city' which has the largest number of cinema halls in the country—nearly 100—half of which screen movies in five languages other than Kannada. Some cinema halls exhibiting Hollywood productions immediately hiked their ticket prices as did restaurants who were quick to pass on the increased tax burden to the customer. But cinema halls that increased their ticket prices are witnessing a decline in business by over 50 per cent despite screening 'holiday special' movies when schools have closed for summer vacations.

Other entertainment businesses too are being strangled by government restrictions. 'Live bands' were banned three years ago by the city police. This included the highly popular discotheques. Now, Bangaloreans with an inclination to jive have to drive out of town to one of the three discos outside city limits. And the latest tax proposals on theatres and restaurants are threatening to be the proverbial last straw. As lawmakers are seen to be blowing away the collective froth of India's Silicon Valley, fun seems to be fizzling out in the 'fun city'. "

I don't think I can go to the movies once a week now since my pocket money won't increase along with the increase in ticket rates," says Sowmya Chandrashekar, 18, a Mount Carmel college student. "Especially since a movie also meant a burger or a pizza and even that will be expensive. " Adds Ramesh Kumar, tongue firmly in cheek: "The government probably wants us to sit at home and watch Star Movies. And eat home-cooked food as eating out could be unhygienic." Swati Vishwanath, 23, an advertising copy writer who likes her beer and who moved to Bangalore from Mumbai recently, is less amused. "I wonder what the hype about this place is all about. Bangalore won't take long to become as expensive as Bombay," she fumes.

Deepak Sharma, 23, who is training to be a chartered accountant, feels that despite Bangalore being less expensive than Mum-bai or Delhi, it cannot sustain the current high-cost lifestyle as Bangaloreans do not have as much money as Mumbaikars or Delhiites. "So we cannot sustain these taxes and it will kill all the fun if Bangalore's economy doesn't boom soon." AddsSridhar Prasad, 24, a software engineer at BFL Software: "When I was studying, a group of five could spend about Rs 700 and have a great evening out that included a movie, dinner and lots of beer. Occasionally, we could go out to the discos. While prices generally shoot up and discos havebeen banned, they now add to it by increasing taxes. The place isn't as much fun anymore."

"Dining out was the only legal outing possible in Bangalore and if a movie could be clubbed with dining out, it would be the coup de grace. But people may not do these as often any more," says Prem Koshy, MD, Koshy's Hotels Pvt Ltd. Adds Jayaprakash, proprietor, The Downtown pub: "The harmless draught beer is no more the inexpensive thrill it was. As it is Bangalore was an expensive city and the government had to add to this burden. Price-conscious people will now move away to cheaper joints and affect our business." And Harmandir Singh, a manager with Motorola Information Systems Group, agrees: "Entertainment and recreation is getting more out of reach of the majority of Bangaloreans." And though one could always get a video cassette to watch movies, going to the theatres was one of the few options to get out of home, he says. "But why the hell should we now pay 45 bucks for a lousy balcony seat, without pushback, in a theatre with-out airconditioning?" he asks.

Kamal Kapur, owner of Rex and Symphony theatres, fully sympathises with Singh. "Tax on eating out may be aimed at the affluent sections and that on drinking seen as punitive. But I don't understand the steep tax on movies as they are for all sections of society. Even a movie like Jerry Maguire is showing to two thirds empty halls on the fourth day." Lido Theatre proprietor V.R. Manjunath is also baffled. "The government hiked entertainment tax and reduced the tax on betting at race courses. Does that mean movies are a social eviland gambling isn't?" Says Ramjee Chandran, editor-publisher of Bangalore This Fortnight and The Bangalore Monthly: "All this seems like some kind of a reaction against increasing westernisation and also the bureaucracy's onslaught against liberalisation. They seem to be making up for losing out due to liberalisation by introducing retrograde laws."

But according to Siddaramaiah, "eating and drinking out are extravagant habits. And let non-Kannadigas also watch Kan-nada movies. Kannada is a regional language and needs encouragement." But that doesn't seem convincing enough. "If the whole idea is to generate more revenue, it is faulty. Increased prices will reduce business and obviously the revenue to the government," says a restaurant owner. Adds Kapur: "If Karnataka is really serious about Bangalore's reputation as a Garden City, they should allow all flowers to bloom and not just the local mallige (jasmine). " Now, that's food for thought.