Come Friday and all speculations will finally be put to rest–will Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar be worth the wait?
Starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan with an admirable supporting cast, the film is all set to release this Friday Februrary 15th after immense delay of about 4 months. The film was initially set to release on October 12th, 2007 but was pushed forward due to various reasons.
Nevertheless, production house UTV has set into motion plans of making Jodhaa Akbar the largest worldwide Hindi film release ever. The film will open in 26 countries around the world. In comparison, Saawariya opened in 14 countries and this was considered a wide release. “The film is one of the most anticipated movies of the decade and in keeping with the unprecedented anticipation among audiences, our distribution strategy will ensure that it can be viewed by the maximum possible audience in the very week of its release,” explains Siddharth Roy Kapoor, vice-president of marketing and distribution at UTV.
In the United States alone, the film will release on 122 screens, making it the most extensive Hindi film release in this territory. On the home front, 800 prints will be released in India. Even in Canada, the film has already achieved a record of sorts as this will be the first time a Hindi film will release in six provinces of the country.
Chairman Ronnie Screwvala states, “It has been a good quarter for us and we are looking forward to big things in our next quarter with our biggest product to date, Jodhaa Akbar.”
It looks like UTV Motion Pictures is leaving no stone unturned into making the film accessible around the world. Those who might not normally have Hindi films playing near them should check twice before trying to get their hands on a pirated DVD for this one!
You can find all theatre listings here.
