"Ra.One" on a rampage

Guys here is a Khantastic news for all the Ra.One fans , Mumbai Mirror reported Shah Rukh Khan is leaving no stone unturned for his magnum opus RA.One scheduled for release this Diwali, Wednesday, October 26.

Predicted to be the biggest release across the country till date, the film will open in 3000 screens with over 2000 prints in circulation. This being by far the highest in terms of screens and prints in the history of Bollywood film releases.

With RA.One's plans to take over most screens in the country, other multistarrers are now finding it tough to find screening space. As a result, apart from Himesh Reshammiya's DammaDamm, no big film will be released this Diwali to compete with Badshah Khan. Even the Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn starrer Rascals, which was scheduled to release alongside SRK's superhero movie, has been postponed.

This despite the fact that Ajay Devgn has managed to give big hits during the festival of lights for the past few years, thanks to his Golmaal series. In fact, after the release date for RA.One was announced, no filmmaker has even attempted to venture into the Diwali timezone.

When contacted, Ram Mirchandani, Chief Creative Officer, Eros International, the worldwide presenters and distributors of SRK's RA.One, said, "RA.One will easily be the biggest release of our times in terms of screens. The reason I am saying 'screens' is because the number of prints will obviously be lesser compared to it.

Certain prints will be shared in the smaller centres. There's shuttling of prints that take place in these places. I can't give you the exact number of screens since we are months away from the film's release. But I can assure that it will definitely be more than 2500 screens across the nation. In the overseas market too, we will be going all out. It is a Shah Rukh Khan film after all."

Explaining the distribution plan for the film, Mirchandani added, "Our distribution head Nadu Ahuja, Red Chillies and SRK himself are going in a very scientific manner in terms of distribution and marketing of the film. The numbers of prints will be evenly distributed in all the A, B and C centres. Everything is done in consultation with Shah Rukh.

We had a seven month long marketing plan for the film, which included the release of the promos during the world cup and like I said a scientific strategy to make Ra.One the biggest release in the history of Bollywood."

Speaking about the strategy, Ram Mirchandani said, "The number of screens at multiplexes are increasing as we speak and so are the 3D screens. (Ra.One will also release in 3D) The business today is no longer of 7-8 weeks but has been cut down to 2-3 weeks. So, it makes business sense to go all out and be smart about our release."

When contacted Anubhav Sinha, the director of the film said, "I am not really aware of the numbers as so much is going on but I bumped in to Ram Mirchandani of Eros who was saying something to this effect. I am aware of the enormity of the release but I don't think it's possible to confirm the numbers at this moment."

~~Long Live Shahrukh Khan