Pawan Kalyan's Ustaad Bhagat Singh gets benefit shows instead of premiere in AP; ticket hikes allowed for 10 days

Harish Shankar and Pawan Kalyan's Ustaad Bhagat Singh's tickets will be sold at a hiked price in Andhra Pradesh for the first 10 days of its release.

Harish Shankar’s Pawan Kalyan-starrer Ustaad Bhagat Singh is hitting screens on March 19 for Ugadi and competing with Aditya Dhar’s Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar: The Revenge in the Telugu states. The Andhra Pradesh government passed a GO allowing a benefit show instead of a premiere and ticket hikes for the first 10 days of release.

Pawan Kalyan plays the lead in Harish Shankar's Ustaad Bhagat Singh.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh gets benefit shows

Initially, there were reports that Ustaad Bhagat Singh would have premiere shows on March 18, much like Dhurandhar 2. However, the GO permits benefit shows on March 19, beginning from 4 or 5 AM, with tickets priced at ₹500. Permission has also been granted to hike single-screen tickets by ₹100 and multiplex tickets by ₹125 for the first 10 days of the film’s release. Five shows can be run per day with the hiked ticket rates. This comes after the producer, Mythri Movie Makers, applied to the state government for permissions.

Telangana unlikely to allow ticket hikes

If history is anything to go by, Telangana is unlikely to allow ticket hikes in the state. For Pawan’s previous release, They Call Him OG, a GO was passed in the state allowing ticket hikes. But the Telangana High Court struck it down. As a result, it is unlikely that the producer will apply for a ticket hike in the state or that it will be approved and upheld. Ram Charan’s Game Changer, Balakrishna’s Akhanda 2, Chiranjeevi’s Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu and Prabhas’ The Raja Saab were films that were affected by the ruling. Shows in Telangana are likely to be allowed from 7 AM.

About Ustaad Bhagat Singh

Ustaad Bhagat Singh is directed by Harish Shankar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers. It is an adaptation of Vijay’s 2016 film Theri. The film stars Pawan, Sreeleela, Raashii Khanna, R Parthiban, Ashutosh Rana, Nawab Shah, BS Avinash, Gautami, Chammak Chandra and others. It was initially scheduled to be released on March 26, but was moved up to March 19 after the postponement of Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups.

It was announced as Bhavadeeyudu Bhagat Singh in 2021 and is Harish’s second film with Pawan after their 2012 hit Gabbar Singh. The title was changed to Ustaad Bhagat Singh in 2022. Shooting commenced in 2023 and wrapped up in 2025. It’s one of the three films Pawan signed before becoming the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Devi Sri Prasad composed the songs, but Thaman S was recently brought on board for the background score.