Vishwaroopam: Ban or bane

Ekta Kapoor, head honcho of Balaji Motion Pictures that distributed Vishwaroop, says, "We have given the Hindi version, the best possible release. The film has generated tremendous buzz. We are happy to support the film and Kamalji in our own way." Tanuj Garg, CEO, Balaji Motion Pictures, says further, "Vishwaroop is a nationwide revolution. People are sick of this idiotic banning virus that is spreading at an alarming rate. The film has released and bagged outstanding acclaim. Balaji is glad to have been associated with the film's Hindi version as the national distributor!"

The delay in the release of Vishwaroop and the controversy surrounding it seemed to have taken its toll going by the not-so-great opening of the film. Girish Wankhede, Head of Marketing at Cinemax, opines that when a film gets postponed, it may confuse the audience initially, but the content of a film finally decides the outcome. "The ban may have affected the exhibitors or producers, but for the audience it is content that matter. If the film is good, it'll pick up, but if the film does not have the charm or sustainability, then irrespective of controversy, the film will not gain anything," he states. Desai, on the other hand, informs, "People were scared to venture into the theatres because of the police bandobast. But those who came to see the film, went about watching the film fearlessly despite the presence of the police. I am happy with the way the film has done at my theatres, Gaiety, Galaxy as well as Maratha Mandir in Mumbai."

Regal Cinema is another single screen that saw a decent opening when the film released on February 1. Parmeswaran Pillai, Manager of Regal says that the film had a decent opening with 331 people in the audience. This, he reasons, was because of the police bandobast and was positive that the film would pick up during the weekend. "During the release of My Name Is Khan too, our cinema had a police protection. It was Shiv Sena who tried to hamper the film's release then, and now some Muslim organisations that tried to do that with Vishwaroop. We had police inside as well as outside the theatre, so people were not scared when they came to see the film," he informs.

... contd.

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