It is almost here the day that Bollywood fans everywhere have been waiting for, counting the days until and generally are going crazy about November 9th, the day Saawariya and Om Shanti Om finally release!
For a while it seemed that neither film would be shown at major theaters because both film’s distributors had problems with the multiplex owners over profit sharing. Saawariya’s distributor Sony came to an agreement earlier in the week, while Eros distributor of Om Shanti Om were in talks until Tuesday night. However, once in agreement both films, of course, had pre-release sales of tickets and they both are going like hot cakes or samosas take your pick.
Amod Mehra said that the head start Saawariya had helped, “Saawariya is showing ‘houseful’ signs in every theatre where the advance booking started earlier. Saawariya definitely had an edge in the advance booking. It’s jam-packed in every theatre, every show.”
Even though Om Shanti Om had some catching up to do it seems that both film are all ready booked through the weekend with audiences clamoring to see both. “The booking for Om Shanti Om started last evening but it is going very strong, especially in West Bengal. Both films are getting equally good response. People are not discriminating and are buying tickets for both films,” said Saurabh Varma, vice president programming and distribution INOX leisure Ltd.
Ajay Varma, head of operations and programming at the capital’s Chanakya cinema hall said,”We will have three shows of Saawariya and two shows of Om Shanti Om. Eighty percent of the tickets have been sold out for Friday. The advance booking for both films started on Tuesday morning and we sold tickets worth Rs.400,000. We have full bookings till Monday.”
Since both films are releasing on Diwali none of the theaters are expecting full bookings,”Still we have 60 to 70 percent bookings for the evening and night shows. But the bookings for next four days are quite satisfactory. And people are giving the same response, they want to see both the films,” added Ashish Saxena, COO of PVR Cinemas.
It will be interesting to see the final box office numbers in India and overseas for both of these exciting films! We know two of our lucky journalists will be seeing them this weekend so stay tuned for our reviews!
