Three hyped biggies but opening thanda

PVR Multiplex officials in Mumbai told us, "There is no rush for bookings both online and at the box office window for any of these three films as of yet. But you never know. Any of the films can pick up with word of mouth from tomorrow." Adlabs Multiplexes are also facing the same situation. "Weekend shows of big films mostly get booked in advance but none of these three releases have got a single houseful show yet. Aap Ka Surroor is showing a marginal edge over the other two films but the volume is not really encouraging right now. Nowadays audience has become smarter. So they prefer to wait for the clear verdict first and find out which is a better film and then decide which one to go for," said an Adlabs Multiplex official.

An industry insider tells us, "Himesh is a star of the masses, at least the autorickshaw drivers are definitely going to make a bee line in front of single screen halls across the nation tomorrow onwards. Deols have a strong base in the north and their film's good business up there is almost assured and Bhatt's are appearing super confident about their most ambitious film till date. If one remembers, Bhatt's Gangster (2006) released along with the multi starrer Darna Zaroori Hai on the same day and it clearly dominated the box office despite bad reviews and almost nil advance booking. Awarapan might just go the same way. Emraan Hashmi even announced on a radio show that he would refund anyone his ticket price if he goes to him saying he did not enjoy Awarapan."

Trade pundits are betting on Himesh to do the magic trick. Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh tells us "We will have to wait and watch tomorrow to really know. Aap Kaa Surroor has got better bookings but it's too early to tell. As of now, people want to look at Himesh in the theatre. They are curious as to how he is as an actor." Komal Nahata of Film Information feels, "The promotions for Apne and Awarapan have been very low key compared to AKS. Himesh's film will definitely get more audience once it opens." Vikas Mohan of Super Cinema states, "AKS's music is better than the rest two films. It has clicked with the audiences of all kinds. It stands to benefit on this count definitely."

"The makers of all three films have avoided keeping trial shows for the media. They are also not having any paid preview shows on the release eve as generally is the practice when multiple films release on the same day. They don't want to have a negative feedback circulated about their film before the first show starts on Friday. All three are feeling the insecurity but none is being vocal about it. They have all been very stubborn about not rescheduling their release dates to avoid this clash but they have forgotten that it may also lead to a backfire with all of their individual films flopping together. Remember, Himesh is yet to be tested as an actor, Emraan's last three films have been super flops and Deols individually have been facing rough weather at the box office for years now," add an industry source said.

When we asked a Bollywood top actor which film he would prefer to go for first amongst the three, he cattily replied, "None of them. Die Hard 4.0 is releasing on the same day too and I would prefer it any day."