BAH gets rousing reception!

Leading theatre chains have made record bookings for top Bollywood films during this weekend

Mumbai: A long weekend ahead has ensured that Bachna ae Haseeno, starrer Bollywood?s blue-eyed boy Ranbir Kapoor and its latest sensation Deepika Padukone, is getting a rousing reception if advance bookings are anything to go by.

Leading theatre chains like PVR Cinemas, Inox Leisure, Shringar Cinemas, Adlabs Cinemas, among others, confirm that 40 to 60 per cent of the tickets for this Yash Chopra-directed film have been sold out for first three days across the country. This is significantly higher than the 20 to 30 per cent advance bookings that blockbusters typically hit.

?Our special screening preview shows for Bachna ae Haseeno are house full and advance bookings for the weekend have been to the tune of 60 per cent so far. We are receiving a huge number of enquiries for the movie and are sure it will do good business, especially keeping in mind the long weekend,? said Alok Tandon, COO, Inox Leisure.

Kapoor and Padukone, both of whom made their debuts in last year?s hits Saawariya and Om Shanti Om respectively, are pitted against seasoned actors Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan-starrer God Tussi Great Ho, which is slated for release the same day.

However, Eros International which acquired the worldwide distribution rights for the film for around Rs 40 crore, was still negotiating with multiplexes on revenue-sharing terms till last night, which appears to have worked to the advantage of Bachna ae Haseeno.

?The film will release across multiplexes on Friday,? confirmed Sunil Lulla, president, Eros International. However, he did not want to comment on the revenue-sharing terms. According to sources, Eros was quoting a 50 per cent share of ticket sales in the first week and 42 per cent in the second. It finally settled for 48 and 38 per cent for the first and second week respectively in Mumbai and 50 and 40 per cent in other territories for the first two weeks.

Meanwhile, theatres are in a quandary. ?Theatre chains have a tough call with three films to be accommodated ? these two new releases and Singh is Kinng, which has done extremely well at the box-office,? said Devang Sampat, vice- president (marketing & programming), Cinemax India.

For instance, Adlabs Cinemas, which operates 179 screens (all India) and runs around 760 shows, will screen 222 shows of Bachna ae Haseeno, and 214 shows of God Tussi Great Ho, while Singh is Kinng will have 185 shows (against 370 shows last week). Of the 760 shows these three films will make for 621 shows in a day.

?We will have to work out a fair split between Bachna ae Haseeno and Singh is Kinng, followed by God Tussi Great Ho,? added Gautam Dutta, chief marketing head, PVR Cinemas.

Industry players observe that audience interest is higher for Bachna ae Haseeno, mainly because Kapoor and Padukone are romantically linked off-screen as well.

A Yash Raj Films? spokesperson declined to specify the number of prints that Bachna ae Haseeno will release. Eros will release more than 550 prints worldwide of God Tussi Great Ho.