Karan Johar creates a buzz like never before

Even before it hits screens tomorrow, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK) is already sporting houseful boards.

Industry sources say the quarter-to-four-hour-long film, made at a budget of Rs 60 crore, will recover Rs 12 crore in three days flat. Its worldwide release will see 900 prints (the cost of each print is around Rs 50,000-60,000), including digital prints.

Nearly 300 prints have been kept aside for its overseas release, and, according to Apoorva Mehta, COO, Dharma Productions, "For the first time, the company has released 36 prints for 50-odd screens in Dubai."

In fact, director Karan Johar will showcase the film at the Toronto film festival that begins early September. Mehta adds, "Distributors want us to add more prints, and I'm sure we're soon going to touch the 1,000-print figure."

Ashish Saxena, COO (West), PVR Cinemas says, "We are allowing bulk bookings for evening and late-night shows only."

Interestingly, a community organisation in Mumbai has booked 15,000 tickets in one go at three different branches of PVR, including multiplexes at Juhu and Mulund. "We haven't seen such a booking before," says Saxena.

Sumit Ghosh, VP, (sales & marketing) Spice World says, "We will showcase 19 shows of the film at our Noida multiplex, as compared to the usual 12-15 shows for premium blockbusters." At PVR Spice, all eight halls are booked till next Sunday.

Though most multiplexes refute charges of hiking ticket prices, Mehta concedes, "We've heard that prices of tickets, in some cases, have increased by 10-15 per cent."

However, Ghosh says, "We increased prices in the first quarter some weeks ago, but it has nothing to do with KANK." He adds, "With filmmakers demanding more revenue share from multiplexes, we had to hike our prices."