Box-office dhamaka — Shah Rukh vs Hrithik

Both the films have reportedly been sold for Rs 3 crore per territory in thecountry. Nearly 100 prints will be in circulation for overseas territoriesalone for each film, of which around 40-50 prints are being supplied to theNRI-heavy USA-Canada and U.K. markets.

But both the Chopras are lying low, and haven’t resorted to the usualfull-page ad splash in newspapers. Balkrishna Shroff, of Shringar Filmswhich is distributing Mission Kashmir with over 110 prints, says full-pageads are “wasteful expenditure”.

Mohabbatein, produced by Yash Chopra and directed by his son Aditya Chopra,also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and a bevy of newbies. WhileVidhu Vinod Chopra’s Mission Kashmir has dependables Sanjay Dutt, and JackieShroff, besides Preity Zinta.

Ticket to a super-hit
Cinema halls in Mumbai are all set to milk the Shah Rukh versus Hrithikbox-office battle for all it’s worth by hiking admission rates. Theatrechain owner Rajiv Thadani will release Mohabbatein and Mission Kashmirtogether: with the former in four daily shows and Mohabbatein in threeshows. The loss of one show for Mohabbatein will be made up by hiking theticket rates.

According to trade estimates, both films could rake in as much as Rs. 1.5crore in the first week itself from the Bombay territory, comprisingMaharashtra (minus Vidharbha and Marathwada) Gujarat and four districts ofKarnataka (Belgaum, Dharwar, Karwar and Bijapur) alone for Yash Chopra,who’s distributing the film himself. The competition among exhibitors tobook either of the films is intense, with each offering maximum advancesdepending on the capacity of their cinema halls.