E-Paper
Potter beats Guzaarish in advance booking
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows has beaten Guzaarish in advance booking. Will Potter film give Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish a big run for money?
Once again, Potter mania has gripped India. If the advance booking is any indication, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows — Part 1 will open bigger than Guzaarish, which toplines Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and releases with over 1,000 prints. The Hollywood flick is at least 400 prints short, but is giving Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s biggie a run for its money.
According to reports, about 36 minutes of the Potter film have been leaked on to the Internet. Warner Bros’ legal team is currently investigating the issue.
According to Sunil Punjabi, CEO, Cinemax says, "The advance booking is fantastic, no Harry Potter fan will miss it." He adds that the multiplex chain has already registered 65 per cent collections on Thursday. "But comparing a traditional Hindi film to a big Hollywood franchisee is not setting the right benchmark."
At E-Square, Pune’s first multiplex, Potter is selling 10 times more than its Hindi competitor. "We’ve sold 630 tickets for Guzaarish as against 6,370 for Harry Potter," reveals a source at the multiplex on condition of anonymity. Trade analyst Amod Mehra is confident that Harry Potter will register a huge opening. "But there’s not enough curiosity about Guzaarish. It’s high price could also affect its recovery."
Prakhar Joshi of PVR Cinemas attributes the Guzaaarish slump to Potter fever: "The pre-bookings till Monday were as good as that of any Hindi blockbuster. We had sold about 16,000 tickets. And then Potter came along," he says, adding that like 2012 (2009) and Avatar (2009), he expects this to also do big business. Punjabi however believes that good word-of-mouth publicity can help Bhansali’s film. "I’m optimistic that it will do well over the weekend," he maintains.
Sharing the same sentiment, Joshi adds, “The reports are good. So if people like the content, Guzaarish’s collections will surely pick up.”