"Bodyguard is no ordinary film. It's to be treated as an event," says producer-distributor N R Pachisia, adding, "Actually since Wanted, Salman Khan movies have become events in themselves. His releases usually coincide with Eid, so it becomes a family/community outing. This time, the mood in the country is jubilant. We have Eid/Ganpati for a dual celebration."
A trade source adds, "And not to forget that with Anna Hazare having broken his fast, there is a feeling of victory and triumph among the people."
Salman Khan feels 2,000 prints is just the beginning. "As we go into the next big release, the number of prints will increase," says the industry's bhai. "It is a natural phenomenon. The business has grown manifold with the number of theatres also increasing. With business being concentrated over the weekends, the box office dynamics have changed. Bodyguard is fortunate to release around Eid/ Ganpati, and both Hindus and Muslims are in a celebratory mood."
Salman adds that Dabangg and Ready may be on the list of the five highest grossers ever, "But for me my earlier films Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun are equally significant, because if their business (inflation adjusted) is taken into account, they would also feature on the coveted list. In those days, we celebrated 50 and 75 weeks of business; these days we celebrate three weekends and end up making more money. That's because we put out such a huge number of prints."
Kareena Kapoor also believes that Bodyguard will break new ground. "It has the right mix of emotion, action, comedy and every other ingredient that goes into making a mainstream film the event it is. I promise you will laugh and cry in equal measures," she says.
With Reliance Entertainment having deployed one of the highest marketing budgets ever, Alvira and Atul Agnihotri's Bodyguard - a remake of director Siddique's Malayalam film - is all set to carpet bomb Bollywood.
The only dampner is that Salman will not be present in India when his film hits theatres today. The superstar is away in the US for his surgery.
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