Film production house Yash Raj Films will release its latest offering, Dhoom 2, on Friday with 1,800 prints, including 250 digital copies, the highest ever for a Hindi film. The previous highest was 1,600 for Farhan Akhtar's Don.
Industry experts feel the film will be the biggest revenue earner this year, surpassing Lage Raho Munnabhai. Shrikanth Hazare, vice-president (marketing) of Inox, said, "The movie is booked 40 per cent for the weekend, and we are going to screen 12-15 shows a day."
The number of shows screened per day varies from city to city. Hazare said, "We are starting with 12 shows in Mumbai and 15 in Pune."
Multiplexes have raised ticket prices for the movie. In Bangalore and Mumbai, the rates are Rs 250 (up from Rs 220) and in Nagpur and Pune, they are Rs 190 (up from Rs 150). Yash Raj Films is also believed to be demanding a larger revenue share from box office collections.
Film analyst Komal Nahata said, "Yash Raj Films has demanded 50 per cent profit share for the first two weeks and 40 per cent for the third and fourth week. It has demanded the same terms for the forthcoming movie, Kabul Express, as well. This a monopolistic attitude by the production house."
Hazare said, "All differences in the previous agreement have been sorted out. And, the tie-ups for the forthcoming movies are certainly going to benefit us, as they will give us the scope for planning our promotional activities."
On whether Inox agreed to the production house's terms, Hazare said the two parties had arrived at an mutual agreement. However, in several multiplexes in Gurgaon, last-minute negotiations are still on as Yash Raj Films is not ready to budge from its demand to increase the revenue share.
With a much higher budget of Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million) compared with the Rs 10-11 crore (Rs 100-110 million) for Dhoom, Yash Raj Films has already started reaping benefits through advance bookings etc.
"On the table, the maker has earned Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million), excluding the satellite rights, distribution rights, and other expenses," Nahata said.
Sanjay Bhandari, the film's funds consultant, said, "Fifty per cent of the funding was provided by EXIM Bank, and the amount has already been taken care of."
Usually, the lending bank expects the production house to repay the amount before the release of the movie. Yash Raj Films promos have spiced up the entire brand, Dhoom 2, with its tie-ups with Pepe Jeans and Coco-Cola. The ad campaign 'Coke Uthale, Dhoom Machale' with Hrithik Roshan sports the same gear as he has done in the new flick.
"Tie-ups with Pepe Jeans and Coco-Cola are going to be profitable. We, at Inox, will be distributing merchandise by both these companies - CDs and cassettes by Coco-Cola and jeans by Pepe," Hazare said.
In another promotional exercise, a consumer buying two 1.5-litre bottles of coke will get a free ticket to Inox.