Thursday, October 20, 2011

RA.One gobbles up screen time


Shah Rukh Khan is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the success of his Diwali release RA.One. And lady luck, too, seems to be on his side. While Khan has roped in the two icons of the film industry - Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan, for his opus, multiplex owners have ensured that audiences get little chance of watching anything else this Diwali by giving the film 95 percent of the shows.

Earlier, Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots got a 65 percent share of screenings when it released alongside James Cameron's Avatar. Salman Khan's Dabangg got a 70 percent while Bodyguard got 80 percent SRK, with a 95 percent share for RA.One has beaten the others hands down.

Apparently, it wasn't SRK who decided the share. In a meeting last afternoon, multiplex owners, out of the three releases this Diwali, decided to screen 95 percent shows of RA.One.

The other two releases this Diwali - Esha Deol's comeback vehicle Tell Me O Kkhuda and Himesh Reshammiya's Damadamm! have managed to acquire one or two shows in most multiplexes. In fact, Damadamm! might not be seen at all in a few theatres.

Confirming the story, Anand Vishal, Head of Operations, Fun Cinemas told Mumbai Mirror, "Damadamm! will not have an all India distribution strategy. It will be a selective release. As for Tell Me O Kkhuda, we might have three shows in some of our theatres and one show in others depending on the size of the theatre in question."

A source from Cinemax India also confirmed that RA.One is getting 95 per cent shows in their chain. "Picture ki publicity bahut hui hai. There is a lot of buzz about it. It's purely a business decision," said the source.

Talking about the decision taken by multiplex owners, trade analyst Amod Mehra said, "I am not surprised. Whenever expectations are high, exhibitions are also high. What one needs to understand is that this is not a fight between SRK, Aamir and Sallu. The fight is between SRK and Himesh Reshammiya. Himesh's last three films have been disasters. On the other hand, Tell Me O Kkhuda comprises mostly of senior actors. So why is it unfair to let RA.One have most shows?"

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