Baahubali, Kattappa have North Karnataka in their grip

HUBBALLI: The much awaited Baahubali-2 finally opened to packed houses on Friday.

What every movie buff wanted to know was answered finally.Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?

It’s after a long time that a non-Kannada movie has got such a huge response from the audience in Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi and other parts of

north Karnataka

and

Hyderabad-Karnataka

region.

Both the Hindi and Telugu version are being screened in four single screen theatres, in Hubballi and two in Dharwad and more than six theatres in Belagavi. Two multiplexes in city are screening Baahubali-2 on all its screens except one which has been reserved for Kannada.

In Hubballi, the first show started at 9 am in Rupam theatre, and in Ballari, the first show started at Friday midnight. Police and theatre staff had a tough time controlling the crowd.

With the government yet to cap ticket prices at Rs 200 in multiplexes, tickets were selling from Rs 200 to 600. In some cities, they went for Rs1,000 to Rs 5,000. Even single screen theatres in Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi have hiked ticket prices by 30 to 40 percent.

Mahesh Kugaji, of Saishobha Entertainment, said they released Baahubali-2 in nearly 100 theatres across North Karnataka. “We got a report that all shows in most theatres were full on the first day. Looks like the sequel will beat the collection record of Baahubali,” he added.