Though thousands of Bollywood fans worldwide are scrambling to get tickets for the latest starry tour coming from India, some are saying that organizers have gone way overboard with the pricing this time around. The tour features the Bachchan clan along with Preity Zinta, Ritesh Deshmukh and features Shilpa Shetty, Madhuri Dixit and Akshay Kumar in certain locations. Sure, it’s a great line-up and is touted to be the best concert yet, but is it worth putting a hole in your pocket for?
Take this for example. The tour premieres in Toronto tonight and the lowest ticket price was $97 for seats way at the back of the Rogers Centre. Regular tickets went beyond $300 and some floor seats sold for $1000. When Rockstars came around two years ago with Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor leading the tour, $100 would get you decent seats quite close to the stage but not on the floor (Trust me, I bought them!). Now, for the same money, you get stuck at the back? Yes, we do love Bollywood, but one wonders whether organizers are taking us for granted.
The same predicament is taking place around the world, though some cities haven’t seen as big of a jump in ticket prices.
At a recent press conference in Toronto, a journalist dubbed the tour ‘unaffordable’ and asked why tickets were so ridiculously expensive. Amitabh Bachchan responded, “I don’t price tickets,” and he also joked, “But if you’re unable to get those tickets, come up to my room. I’ll sing and dance for you.”
The tour was 80% sold as of early this week, with floor seats completely sold out. This has prompted promoters and organizers to suddenly reduce the prices so that the lowest ticket price is now $65. For many fans, this has come as a rude shock, because they bought early and had to pay the full price even though the cost has gone down.
However, when all is said and done, the tour is ready to premiere tonight in Toronto and the entire team is very excited. Abhishek says, “I’m nervous but also excited,” and adds that they chose Toronto to premiere the tour in because the city is very “close to our (their) hearts”. Recall that it was in Toronto that Abhishek proposed to wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Well, let’s hope the money is worth it! Stay tuned for our exclusive review of the concert this weekend where we will let you know whether the tour is worth spending your money on!
