| If relief has a colour, Rakeysh Mehra is revelling in it. In just four days, Rang De Basanti (RDB), the film he directed with UTV Motion Pictures as its co-producer, is reported to have collected a huge Rs 22.8 crore worldwide in gross box office ticket sales, the all-India gross being Rs 14.8 crore. |
| According to UTV, RDB has got off to a "flying start" the world over. Pooja Shetty, director, Adlabs Films, confirms the film's initial showing. |
| "It has opened very well across all our theatres in India and ran to full capacity, all shows, and looks set to be the first hit of 2006." Adlabs owns a chain of multiplex theatres. |
| However, Indu Mirani, trade analyst, does not share the exuberance. "The movie is doing well in cities, multiplexes and in places like Punjab. However, it is not yet a uniform performance, and is yet to pick up in the interiors. In fact, it has not done well in Uttar Pradesh and in smaller cities." |
| The overseas collections would more than compensate. In the Gulf, its 17 prints surpassed a million Dirhams in five days, making it one of the highest per-print averages for a Bollywood title. |
| In Australia, the film sold tickets worth over $61,000 in three days "" which is the third largest opening for any Bollywood film there ever. |
| In Singapore, the three-day gross collections went beyond $31,000. In the UK, the limited two-day preview performances did ¤220,452, at 38 sites, beating other big Bollywood openings such as The Rising, Salaam Namaste, Bunty Aur Babli and Parineeta. In the US, it managed to rake in $701,666 on 61 screens. |
| "The overwhelming critical and commercial response to the film is heartening, and testimony to what UTV believes in," says Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV. |
| The film, as reported in Business Standard earlier, had created a record of sorts by allocating nearly 40 per cent of its budget of Rs 25 crore to marketing initatives. Typically, movies in India set aside only 5-10 per cent of the budget for the purpose. |
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