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Divali festivities, holidays, bonuses and the auspicious mahurat, all together make for a perfect combination for a film release. Traditionally, Divali has been regarded as most propitious for big-ticket movie releases. Shah Rukh Khan has always been lucky with his Divali releases — Baazigar (1993), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil to Pagal Hai (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Veer-Zaara (2004), Don: The Chase Begins Again (2006) and Om Shanti Om (2007). Only exceptions being Mohabbatein (2000) and VFX bonanza RA.One (2011), which did not set the boxoffice ablaze like the rest of his Divali releases. Nonetheless, SRK’s favourite is Divali release as Aamir’s Christmas and Salman’s Eid. Ajay Devgn has also enjoyed the sweetness of Divali releases with Golmaal Returns (2008) and Golmaal 3 (2010). Ploys and gimmicks So this Divali when Ajay Devgn comes galloping atop two horses and SRK rides his motorbike in the theatres, sparks are bound to fly. The first of the face-offs came when Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan’s erstwhile girlfriend chose to co-star his arch rival Shah Rukh. Salman slammed back by shooting an item song for his new-found friend Ajay Devgn, the "Po Po" song is turning out to be a big rage. But the manipulation game goes deeper. While releasing Ek Tha Tiger, Yash Raj Films is said to have made a combo deal with the distributors. A single screen theatre manager in Mumbai suburbs disclosed that only if he gave all his shows to Ek Tha Tiger, he would get the distribution rights of Jab Tak Hai Jaan! "This isn’t the first time, ever since Aditya Chopra came into the picture, YRF has been dictating terms to theatre owners. Not only about monopolising shows but also about hiking the ticket prices," informs N. P. Yadav, trade analyst. Accordingly, YRF has plans a massive release at 3,300 screens across India. Yash Chopra’s untimely and sudden demise brought to fore some sentimental voices. Industry’s wise men like Mahesh Bhatt urged the makers of Son of Sardaar to bow out and as a mark of respect, let Yash Chopra’s final romance have a solo run. But in the face of upcoming biggies like Aamir Khan’s Talaash, Akshay Kumar’s Khiladi 786 and, of course, Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2, SOS wouldn’t have got the theatre chains and number of screens for release later on. So the producers of SOS will not postpone its release. And the clash of titans is on. Fanfare and fun element Vishal Verma, trade pundit, predicts great chances for Divali releases, "Shah Rukh has always been a big draw for family audience, add to that YRF’s fan base — JTHJ will have a historic opening. If SOS manages to retain even 10 per cent of humour of the Telugu original Maryada Ramanna, it will also hit high." The sympathy wave generated by Yash Chopra’s sudden departure also works in favour of JTHJ. "I cannot possibly miss JTHJ, it is Yash ji’s last project, his last romance with the screen," sighs Swati Char, an architecture student. Pamela Chopra recently sent out emotional invites for the gala premiere of JTHJ, a first for YRF. Shah Rukh, in a recent interview, explained that the premiere is a tribute to the departed filmmaker, "Yash Chopra always released his films on Divali because his ideology was that it’s a festival of life and happiness. Hope it’s not seen in a wrong sense, but the fact that he’d been making films for the last 50 years, and just 10 days after he made his last film, he passes away — I think in a strange sense, it is the happiest thing for a filmmaker. We, as people who’ve experienced him, should celebrate what a wonderful and happy life he had. We shall carry forward the reason he made films for, and that was to celebrate life. We are going to have this huge premiere on November 12. To me, it has become a little more than a film. That is the best way of giving a tribute or the best way to mourn Yash Chopra’s passing away and to celebrate the fact that he was a part of our lives." Yadav postulates that both the films will fare well owing to strong initial collections but only the content will decide their survival, he cautions, "Of the two, JTHJ’s music hasn’t caught on but being Yash Chopra’s final film, it stands a better chance. On the other hand, films on Sikh heroes such as Gadar, Singh is Kingg and Rocket Singh — Salesman of the Year have done well at the boxoffice so it is likely that SOS, too, will have it going good," he adds. Hat-trick Devgn Ajay Devgn has been riding the high horse of success, Singham and Bol Bachchan, both raked in 100 crore each, so the big question is will SOS be his third back-to-back 100-crore bonanza? "SOS is a quirky, comedy and the promos are exciting enough to pull in a big crowd. 100 crore is a foregone conclusion," says Girish Wankhede, DGM Cinemax. In a recent interview, Ajay Devgn sounded gung-ho about SOS. "I am very confident about the success of SOS. The original film was so entertaining that we thought of adapting it. The pace and the way it was made are fabulous. But we made the changes required to make a Hindi film." But he’s diplomatic when it comes to comparing the outcome of the two films, "Both films will do well," he says. The distributor and exhibitors are optimistic about the two films. Rajesh Thadani, leading distributor, says, "Statistically speaking, with release across 3,300 screens, JTJH stands to benefit more." While Hyder Bola, distributor, exhibitor stresses that the holiday mood and two different genres of the films leaves him with no doubt that both are sure fire hits. "There is a good demand and initial to lag hi gayi," he declares triumphantly. Going by the general effervescent mood of cinegoers and film fraternity, there seems to be a big Divali dhamaka at the boxoffice ahead.
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