Mohabbatein booked solid

Komal Nahta

That Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein should open to bumper houses this Friday, October 27, can safely be assumed.

No, not because it has two superstars -- Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan -- together. Not even because its music is catching on in popularity.

It is because the advance booking for the film has already opened. Not in Bombay, but in two centres of C P Berar viz Raipur and Akola.

Such was the craze for the film that, when the plans opened on Sunday, October 15 (Sunday), at Raj Talkies in Raipur and Vasant Talkies in Akola (both cinemas of the Rathi group), tickets of each and every show of the first three days were sold out in just two days!

Moreover, since Mohabbatein has a running time of 3 hours and 35 minutes. Which means, cinemas will screen the film in three instead of the customary four shows daily. The cinemas, obviously, will charge the distributors of Mohabbatein rental for all 4 shows as no other film can be accommodated either before, after or between the three shows.

So how do distributors plan to make good on this 'loss'? While they will get revenues of 3 shows, they will have to nonetheless pay the rental for 4 shows.

Some confident distributors are hiking ticket (admission) rates to make up for the 'loss'.

For instance, Liberty cinema of Nagpur has increased its balcony rate from Rs 30 to Rs 50. The reserve class rate has been upped by 50% to Rs 30, while the first class rate, also hiked by 50%, will now be Rs 15.

As a result, the net weekly (21 shows) capacity of the cinema for Mohabbatein will be Rs 3,79,908.90 in place of the usual (28 shows) capacity of Rs 3,17,590.00 and the usual (21 shows) capacity of Rs. 2,38,192.50!

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