“It was bound to happen sooner or later. With price rise and increase in taxes, thanks to the UPA govt, I knew that I will be earning a lot by selling popcorn in one of Bangalore’s most expensive multiplexes,” said an excited Pasand. “While movie tickets in the multiplex range cost Rs.300-350 on an average, with some shows costing as much as Rs.700, a small popcorn costs around Rs.150, while a popcorn-Pepsi combo costs around Rs.250. A tub costs even more. The good thing about selling food at multiplexes is that even though ticket prices are reduced on one particular day of the week or for certain morning shows, our prices are never affected. And as the economy keeps getting more and more screwed, food prices will only increase. Soon enough, popcorn will cost Rs.250. I plan to invest in some nice property then! Can’t wait for it.”
“About 1500 people come to watch movies everyday and among those, close to 1400 of them buy the popcorn and Pepsi combo. So that makes our daily earning Rs.3.5 lakh, after dividing salary among our workers, INOX and the mall, I get tens of thousands per day. My annual income this year is going to cross Rs 15 lakh,” Pasand said. A lot of popcorn sellers at other popular multiplexes in the city, too, have claimed similarly high incomes this year.
The news has prompted several techies all over the city to hand in their papers and look for popcorn vending positions in multiplexes. “There are several new multiplexes coming up, man! I just want to get on board there and sell popcorn. No more code, no more bugs, no more deadlines. I’m done,” said Python Nagaraju, a disgruntled techie. “But due to the severe demand, I’ve heard they’re gonna have some aptitude tests and interviews for these too to filter out. Sucks man. Hope they at least start offering internships,” he added.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the techies of Tamil Nadu have requested Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to start “Amma popcorn” priced at one rupee.
