My Name Is Khan Movie Poster

The much-feared Shiv Sena threat to stop the release of Karan Johar’s ‘My Name Is Khan’ (MNIK) starring Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role in Mumbai happened to be a damp squib as cinegoers have virtually defeated the Sena plans to scuttle the film release. Though the Sena terror loomed large over Mumbai cinemas just a day ahead of the release of MNIK, which is centred around the life of an Indian couple in the US post the 9/11 terror attack on the US, the fear waned by Friday noon with a section of Mumbai’s Cineplex owners agreed to release the movie after the Maharashtra government ensured full security to the cinemas and the movie lovers.

The Mumbai police had put up all efforts to stall the Shiv Sena advance against stalling the release of the Rs 45-crore film and had arrested about 2,500 party activists from various places of the city by Friday. According to reports, the movie did not suffer much financial loss as feared earlier and it drew good number of audience on its release on Friday afternoon. The reports further said that almost half of city’s multiplexes released the movie amid the threat and the seat occupancy was between 70-80%. According to reports, Maharashtra accounts about 25% of total Bollywood box office collections and Mumbai alone collects 10-15% of the entire revenue across the country.

The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer MNIK and the actor himself became Shiv Sena’s prime target following his comments a week back regretting that no Pakistan cricketers were picked for next month’s Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. This irked the Sena, which has been struggling to regain its lost glory in the past several years in its stronghold, and unleashed attack against Khan, who is also the co-owner of one of the IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders, declaring that his forthcoming film would not be allowed to release in Mumbai.

However, the week-long threat and preparations by the Shiv Sena were foiled when the movie lovers united to support the actor. Interestingly, except Mumbai, that too for a brief period till afternoon, MNIK’s revenue was not hit across the country on the day of release, since the Shiv Sena’s influence was limited to certain pockets of Maharashtra only. Though there were protests in states like Gujarat and Orissa by some outfits declaring solidarity to Shiv Sena, it too died down soon.

Surprisingly, the Sena war on MNIK was not because of any controversy in the film.  It is a typical Karan Johar film, but with a twist of sensibility this time. Shah Rukh plays the role of Rizwan Khan, who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, a birth disorder due to which he finds difficulty in his social interactions. Rizwan moves to San Francisco with his younger brother after the death of their mother and starts working as a salesman where he meets the love of his life –Mandira, a Hindu woman played by Kajol.

Mandira is a single mother and she falls in love with Rizwan. They get married and it seems they will live happily ever after until 9/11. Their life takes a turn as they become victims of racism. The couple is torn apart and Rizwan has to face the biggest challenge of his life to win his love back.

Cinegoers came out enmasse to watch the first show on the first day with the support of the law enforcing agencies and the show was a box office hit across the country on the day of its release. Audience response in Delhi, UP & east Punjab was reportedly equal to the previous biggest opening —3 Idiots. Reports say that tickets till Sunday for the entire weekend in the Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) has been sold out. For single screens in West Bengal it has already broken the advance booking record. The advance is at par with ’3 Idiots’ in all the south territories. The film, distributed by Fox Star Studios in India, has got a wide release, with around 1300 screens.

“Initially, the plan was to go wide with around 1100 screens,” says Vijay Singh, CEO Fox Star Studios, “but going by the growing interest from exhibitors we have been forced to increase it to around 1300 screens.”

And as of Thursday afternoon, despite the confusion on the opening, the response has been unprecedented, further fuelled by excellent reviews.

According to veteran Delhi-based distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts, “My Name Is Khan looks set for the biggest advance ever for a Bollywood movie in the North. Advance bookings for the weekend across Delhi, UP & East Punjab is equal to the previous biggest opening — Three Idiots. Tickets till Sunday for the entire weekend in the Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) have been sold out.”

“In the East,” says one of the leading distributors in West Bengal, Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films, “My Name is Khan is being released with the highest number of screens ever released in WB. And the multiplexes are so excited they have programmed the highest number of multiplex shows ever for a Hindi film in WB. For single screens in West Bengal it has already broken the advance booking record of Don, which is the record holder here. And for the multiplexes, advance bookings are on par with the biggest ever, which is 3 Idiots.”

According to Swaroop Reddy, CEO of Satyam Cinemas, “The response is excellent in the South. The advance is on par with ’3 Idiots’ in the entire southern region. In Bangalore, there is still a slight fear of disruption, so cinemas are flooded with enquiries but there is a hesitation to block tickets in advance. We expect a lot of footfalls tomorrow for current bookings as the reviews of the film are excellent. It’s going to be a packed house for the weekend.”

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