Historical epic love story Jodhaa Akbar is fighting many battles off screen than perhaps it has on screen. While the multiplex release issue is still unsolved, there is very low response to advance booking in single screen cinema halls and it is also facing agitations from Rajput organizations.
2008’s first biggest release by all means, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar’s advance booking in single screen halls opened on Monday but the response hasn’t been a very enthusiastic one befitting a biggie of this proportions. A Mumbai single screen manager on condition of anonymity told us, “Very few tickets were sold for Saturday and Sunday and even lesser for Friday, the opening the day. But we are hopeful to see a rise as the release day approaches with Valentine’s Day coming in and with multiplex owners not yet having solved their revenue sharing deal with the makers, those eager to catch the film might turn to us like they did on release day of Taare Zameen Par and Welcome.”
The bookings for PVR Multiplex in Mumbai, the only multiplex chain in Mumbai as of now releasing the film, has opened to an average response as of now.
There have been media reports of Rajput organizations going to cinema halls in Rajasthan and forcing them not to release Jodhaa Akbar in their state.
Also, Gowariker had given a few interviews around the music release of the film some weeks back but now he has been seen avoiding the media. His interviews planned for the print media on Monday were cancelled at the last moment. With the film’s release just two days away now, it is very less likely that he might dish out anymore interviews. Insiders claim he doesn’t want to face unwanted queries of controversies surrounding the film.
Many industrywalas are surprised by the low key publicity of this close to Rs. 70 crore project. While there are hoardings set up at key locations across Mumbai, the lead pair, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai is not speaking much about the film barring a few interviews that they have done many days back.
Sources from the film’s production company, UTV have however revealed to us that, “This low key publicity is in fact a well planned strategy by the makers to ensure unnecessary hype is not generated for the film. They had successfully pulled off the same tactic during the release of their Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra directed Rang De Basanti. That time its lead actor, Aamir Khan did not speak to press at all and the over all publicity - hoardings, promotions etc wasn’t aggressive at all. Jodhaa Akbar makers want to surprise the audience and leave them spellbound. After all a historical of such mammoth settings comes once in decades in
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