SRK vs Salman Khan: Yet another clash of the titans!

Arch rivals Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are constantly in news for their films competing against each other. Since the formers dream venture ‘RA.One’ was released two weeks ago, the Box Office battle is back between the two once again.


Buzz has it that the trade pundits are analyzing that ‘RA.One’ could beat Sallu’s ‘Ready’ in terms of collections in the domestic market.


SRK’s ambitious film that was released recently has been one of Bollywood’s most expensive films ever made. Eros Entertainment and King Khan have made a whopping investment of 162 cr on it.

Though ’RA.One’ garnered average reviews, but what’s surprising is that it has bagged the moolah at the BO and the figures can be already be compared to that of Salman’s super hit ‘Ready’.


Given that it is yet another weekend coming up and with a bank holiday this week, trade specialists feel that by the end of its tenure ‘RA.One’ could easily go on the list of one of Bollywoods biggest grosser this year.

A trade source informs media, "3 Idiots collected 102 cr; Dabangg-74 cr; Bodyguard 72 cr; Ready-64 cr, Ghajini-58 cr, Golmaal-3-56cr; Singham 50 cr. These are net collections and are very close approximations. Now chances are that Ra.One could cross the 64 cr mark of Ready. Or come to a photo-finish with this Salman film.


Only time will tell. Either way it will definitely be above Golmaal-3 and Singham.``

This battle at the Box Office looks even more interesting because of the two titans, SRK and Salman Khan standing face to face on it this time, yet again!

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RA.One fails to beat Bodyguard, 3 Idiots at BO

It has managed to set a few records at the ticket window, but post the initial draw, the collections of 'RA.One' are falling dramatically. So will SRK's 'Ra.one' match the collections of Salman's 'Bodyguard' or Aamir's '3 idiots'? We did some number crunching to get you the real picture.

While Shah Rukh Khan's magnum opus 'Ra One' will end up making a profit in the long run, it now looks like the King Khan will not be beating the records set by Aamir Khan's '3 Idiots' or Salman Khan's 'Bodyguard'.

It has been stressed that 'Ra.One' did set it's share of records at the box office - which include a 5 day net collection of 96 crore and a single day collection of 23 and a half crore but these figures include collections from the Tamil and Telugu versions of the film.

Thanks to SRK's promotioinal efforts 'Ra.One' got off to a flying start once it opened on Diwali - however it does seem that negative reviews and word of mouth has dented the film's collections after the weekend.

After a high of 17crore on Sunday, Ra.One's net collections nose-dived to 6.5 crore on Monday and settled at 4crore on Wednesday.

RA.One collections dive

Sunday: 17cr
Monday: 6.5cr
Wednesday: 4cr

Rakesh Sharma, Operating Head, Cinemax speaks about dipping collections and if screens are reduced in cinemas. "In terms of gross worldwide collections - Aamir Khan's '3 Idiots' leads the pack with a total of 375 crore followed by Salman Khan's Bodyguard at 253 crore. Ra.One's collections stand at 192 crore as of now and it looks rather impossible that it will be able to beat the other two even in the long run."

Bollywood Blockbusters

3 Idiots: 375cr
Bodyguard: 253cr
RA.One: 192cr

While positive word of mouth kept '3 Idiots' going at the box-office 'Ra.One' seems to be losing steam post it's first week.

Komal Nahata, Film Trade Analyst speaks on how much the film is expected to collect worldwide and its comaprision of 3 idiots collection.

"At over 150 crore 'Ra.One''s cost has also dented it's profitability since both '3 Idiots' and 'Bodyguard' were made at half the price of SRK's magnum opus. Shah Rukh will now be looking forward to 'Don 2' to make magic at the box office."

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Even a Superhero needs a Bodyguard!

Trust us; this will do nothing good to the already sour relationship between the two biggest Khans of Bollywood: Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan. Salman Khan’s sister Alvira Khan has poked fun at Shahrukh Khan and his opus Ra.One.

Reportedly, after the release of Ra.One, Alvira Khan’s Blackberry status message read: “Even a Superhero needs a Bodyguard!”

While Shahrukh Khan’s fans are not taking this slight humorously, Alvira Khan’s friends feel that it was just status message and was meant for pure fun and was not targeted to take a dig at SRK.

The most controversial part is that SRK’s supporters are even claiming that Salman Khan must have been the one to have asked Alvira to put that status message! If reports are to be believed, Alvira would never put such a drastic status without the consent of brother Salman Khan. Even if Salman did not ask her to put this status message, he should not have allowed her to post it either! The clear picture, however, is yet to emerge!

Nevertheless, looks like a possible chance of friendship between Mr. G.One and Mr. Bodyguard has further taken a beating after this incident.

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Demeaning to compare films of two actors: Shah Rukh Khan

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who turned 46 on Wednesday, says it is demeaning to compare the films of two actors.

Shah Rukh was responding to a query on whether the box-office collections of his magnum opus Ra.One had surpassed that of Salman Khan's Bodyguard and Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots.

"It is demeaning if we compare every film of every actor. It is wrong to compare. I don't believe in comparisons. Every actor has a different body of work...all this is unfair," he told reporters here today.

Shah Rukh asserted that he was the original "Baadshah of Bollywood" and nobody can change that.

The actor said he was happy with the success of Ra.One, which released this Diwali to mixed reviews.

"I am happy with the success of Ra.One. I have been told by my business partners we did a good business. I am happy that people are talking about the film be it a good or bad way," he said.

Asked about his birthday wish, Shah Rukh, who was gifted a huge card by his daughter Suhana, said, "All I wish is that my children stay healthy and make a name for themselves."

A host of B-town celebrities are expected to attend a party thrown to celebrate the actor's birthday here this evening.

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It's good to be bad in Bollywood

With the titular character in Bollywood's most expensive film being based on an anti-hero, it looks like Bollywood's 'bad man' is back with a bang. What is even more remarkable is that the character is essayed by Arjun Rampal and not by the lead, Shah Rukh Khan. Instead, King Khan plays the positive character G.One.

The resurrection of the big Bollywood villain, who had become almost redundant over the last decade, seems like a welcome change. One barely saw imposing antagonists in the last few years barring a few. The villains of the earlier decades (Gabbar Singh, Mogambo, Dr Dang) were so intense and menacing that they would completely overshadow the hero.

While Shah Rukh Khan's look in RA.One was revealed a while back, Arjun Rampal's look was fiercely guarded for over two years and was unmasked only recently, during Dussehra.

The actor's look with the scarlet suit, goatee and the baldhead, makes his character look particularly intimidating. In fact, King Khan said in one of the interviews that he was feeling insecure of Rampal stealing all the thunder from him.

Similarly, Sanjay Dutt who plays the negative role of Kancha Cheena in Karan Johar's Agneepath remake has generated more buzz than the lead actor Hrithik Roshan, who steps into the big boots of Amitabh Bachchan. The curiosity in Dutt's character is also raised owing to his interesting look.

In fact, the list of strong villains does not end here. Reportedly, even Krrish 2 has a powerful villain. The role played by Vivek Oberoi is said to be on the lines of Joker from the Batman series.

A film veteran says, "It's a good trend. Unless you have a good adversary, the hero won't stand out."

Shah Rukh Khan stunned everyone by opting for negative roles in Baazigar, Darr, Anjaam, early in his career. The Don remake in which King Khan played a baddie, too, received a warm reception at the box office and is being followed by its sequel.

From the current breed of actors, Saif Ali Khan too has experimented with dark characters. His career took a different turn after he played negative roles in Ek Haseena Thi, Being Cyrus and Omkara.

John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan wowed the audience as baddies in Yash Raj Film's Dhoom series. Now, Aamir Khan is gearing up to play the bad man in the Dhoom triquel.

Sadly, we haven't seen many great negative roles written for female actors in Bollywood apart from the stereotypical horrid mothers-in-law.

The ones, however, that stood out were the characters played by Priyanka Chopra in Aitraaz and Saat Khoon Maaf, Preity Zinta in Armaan, Kajol in Gupt, Amrita Singh in Aaina and Anu Agarwal in Khal-Naaikaa.

Directors like Vishal Bhardwaaj and Anurag Kashyap are fascinated by grey characters and are known to make dark films.

Vishal had earlier said in an interview, "I find dark humour very fascinating - it instigates something in you- it scares you, disturbs you but is funny at the same time."

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Ra.One: Shahrukh Khan's movie turns a profit in 3 days

Ra.One, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's expensive sci-fi flick, has turned in a profit just three days after release, the head of the production company said on Friday.

Kishore Lulla, the CEO of Eros International, which produced the movie, told ET that Ra.One has broken all box office records for Diwali so far. "I am already into profit ," Lulla said. Shah Rukh Khan's riskiest and most expensive film so far opened on Diwali, Wednesday amidst much expectation about its box office numbers and how it will stack up against rival Salman Khan's Bodyguard, a huge hit when it was released a few months ago.

Bodyguard raked in Rs 21.5 crore in the first day, a record number. Lulla says that RA.One made a net collection of Rs 18.5 crore on the first day, and Rs 25 crore on the second day. Gross (excluding entertainment tax) two-day collections were Rs 67 crore. RA.One's first day collections led many to believe that the movie had underperformed expectations.

The move received mixed reviews and social media, internet chat rooms mobile phone inboxes were abuzz with jokes, sarcastic one-liners about Shah Rukh's labour of love supposedly falling short of viewer expectations. Shah Rukh also had another mountain to climb -- none of his movies so far have crossed Rs 100 crore in revenue, while all three of Salman's biggest hits managed to cross that magic figure.

Bollywood trade figures on Friday are also a shade lower than Lulla with many saying that first day collections were Rs 15.5 crore while the second day was Rs 22-23 crore. But Lulla poo-poohs such comments saying that the movie has set a new record for Diwali with first day collections of Rs 18.5 crore, much higher than Golmal 3, which netted Rs 8.5 crore.

Lulla says that his firm will still end up with 53-55% share of the revenue after the multiplex operators and single-screen theatre owners take their share.

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Ra.One collects Rs. 62.50 crore in first two days

Shah Rukh Khan's sci-fi magnum opus RA.One promises to become bigger in the coming days. The opening day (October 26) of the movie was the second-highest ever for a Hindi film, grossing Rs. 26.5 crore with a net of Rs. 18.5 crore.

The second day (October 27) collections, were even more impressive with the film raking in a whooping Rs. 36 crore gross with a net of Rs. 25.10 crore.

The total so far is whooping Rs. 62.50 crore in the first two days of its release.

Ra.One, released on Diwali – Rs. 150 crore budget, on 3100 screens in India, 500 being in 3D format and 1000 screens overseas – got thumbs up from critics for blending elegance of Hollywood with Indian sensibilities. But it is the massive marketing campaign adopted by promoters, which has been successful in delivering such a blockbuster film.

Though the movie is picking up significantly now, analysts are concerned about the returns that distributor Eros will rake in during the entire run of the movie.

But Eros is still hopeful. Kamal Jain, CFO, Eros International, said: "Generally what we do is we get most of our investments recovered before the release of the movie through pre licensing and cable and satellite rights as well as through marketing."

The key question that many film viewers or industry epxerts would be asking themselves is whether this hype sustain?

"The collections on the first day were a bit lower due to Lakshmi Pooja. We expect the occupancies to improve," said Rakesh Sharma, manager of Cinemax.

It was set to be a blockbuster Diwali for box office as they pinned their hopes on Shah Rukh's magnum opus to set their cash registers ringing. But now with this mixed response will the Diwali fireworks fizzle out for multiplexes? The jury is still out on that.

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RA.One review

 

Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Armaan Verma, Shahana Goswami, Tom Wu

Directed by Anubhav Sinha

Rating: Not even One

Science fiction is an oxymoron. And when this genre is sprinkled with moronic humour and logic takes a beating from hell, you know you've punched your tickets for 'RA.One'. With metallic blue and red costumes right out of Falguni Pathak's wardrobe, this out-of-console experience offers laughs, dances and androids touching humans in more ways than considered socially acceptable. Insert coin to read more.

The film sweeps us into a video game fantasy where anything is possible (with a 175-crore-budget, it better be). Game developer, Shekhar Subramanium (Shahrukh Khan) wants to earn his son, Prateek's (Armaan Verma) love and respect. And the only thing that gives Prateek joy is to see his joystick twiddling to spell doom for the most vicious video game super-villain ever. So daddy makes a baddie just like that and calls it RA.One (Arjun Rampal). The game also has a not-so-indestructible superhero called G.One (an emotionally challenged Shahrukh). Please read the box carefully for the 25 permutation-combinations in which RA.One and G.One can kill each other (something to do with the heart being in the body and not in the pocket or anywhere else during combat).

Anyway, it gets nasty as our virtual warriors tear out of the game, 'Terminator 2'-style. Also, thanks to some goofy programming, RA.One is hell-bent on killing Prateek. Naturally, G.One has to do the rescuing and being an android, do it without getting teary-eyed or romantic with Prateek's mum, Sonia (Kareena Kapoor). But who said robots can't ham or chant prophetic life-changing verses coded by its master? No.One!

Humour based on linguistic stereotypes may have worked in 'Zabaan Sambhalke' but now it hardly earns a chuckle. This is assuming the average audience intellect dictates that Tamilians don't always say 'Aiyoo' or pronounce 'keys' as 'kiss'. And even if they do, no amount of laughter track can make this seem funny. No.Fun!

'RA.One' does what no other Sci-Fi movie has done before: it mocks itself. So, the superhero who is manually stopping trains in one scene, is also burning his crotch or sneezing out metallic wires in another. No respect.

Shahrukh's robotic expressions will remind you of his 'My Name is Khan' role, as he confuses machines with differently-abled humans. Kareena's character covers the entire gamut of expressions but isn't memorable or mentionable enough to be regarded. Arjun Rampal has bagged his dream role: an android with mechanical expressions who allows his body to do the talking. Good job, Arjun Rampal's body!

The VFX award would go for most battle arenas, inspired from many popular games. It wouldn't go for the local train swishing out of CST station like a PowerPoint slide.

It's convenient to say that if you have no expectations from 'RA.One', you wouldn't be disappointed. But if you feel so little for the film, why go to watch it at all?

[source: Yahoo!]

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RA.One movie review: Shahrukh Khan scores as a superhero… almost

Used to those mindless movies doing the rounds? King Khan’s latest film is one where you would not want to leave your brains behind

It’s always tough to make a sci-fi film where you have to first make the audience understand the basic premise – the ‘new technology’ that makes things happen. And even tougher when your primary target audience is children. Shahrukh Khan and Anubhav Sinha manage to pull it off barely by a pixel. So Shekhar Subramanian (SRK) is a clumsy, Hindi and Tamil speaking game programmer in London. He has a wife Sonia (Kareena Kapoor) and a kid Prateek. To impress his son, he makes a computer game where the villain RA.One is more powerful than the hero, G.One. Then the unexpected happens. Thanks to the ‘new technology’, RA.One enters the real world. Now he is all set to cause destruction everywhere he goes and even G.One might not be able to stop him.

Kareena really doesn’t have much scope to show off her talent, except in the songs and she shines in them. Shahrukh is in a totally new avatar here and it’s not just the curly hair. His romance is downplayed, he does funny football fights and gets his Tamil wrong. But hey, it is an interesting change from his usual dreamy romantic and full of overacting scenes. And when he has to remain expressionless as he is playing a game character, he still conveys a lot with his blue eyes.

A big cheer for Arjun Rampal. We couldn’t wait for RA.One to come out of the game, just so we could see the hunk. We waited. And waited. The most tragic thing that can happen to a hero, happens to Shekhar and all we are thinking is, where is Arjun? It’s post-interval and he is still to make his appearance. Poor Arjun. And to think he shaved his glorious head of hair just to be in less than half a movie. Despite the length of his role, Arjun makes a heady impact.

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'RA.One' most widely released Bollywood film

Shah Rukh Khan has been hard-selling his big Diwali release 'RA.One'. If reports are to be believed then he has almost Rs 200 crore at stake. But will the pre-release buzz promise to bring the audience to the theatres?

Travelling across the country and tying up with about 20 brands, which alone amounts to about Rs 52 crore, Shah Rukh Khan has naturally been doing his best to ensure that his Rs 150 crore magnum opus 'Ra One' sets the cash registers ringing this Diwali.

A reason why, 'Ra One' will be hitting across 400 screens overseas and 3000 screens in India of which about 500 theatres will be screening its 3D version. And if reports are to be believed then Ra One boasts of about 3,500 special effects shots, while James Cameron's Avatar had only 2700.

Looks like SRK has done all the calculations. After all, this is the most widely released Bollywood film and its satellite rights have already fetched a whopping Rs 35 crore. It is also the first Bollywood film to have launched its own game console with PlayStation. And not to forget, the 'RA.One' merchandise including these dolls.

Interestingly, 'Ra One' is not be having a Mumbai premiere, instead the film be having its world premieres in Dubai and London. But the time will tell if 'RA.One' can match the strength of 'Bodyguard' which collected Rs 21 crore on its opening day itself.

Trend

'RA.One' continues a trend initiated by Krrish and Enthiran. Superhero flicks are relatively new to Indian cinemaspace. It remains to be seen if audiences are receptive to the mega-film that boasts of world class VFX and graphics. RA.One is being billed as a technological masterpiece and is dubbed into Telugu, Tamil and German as well.

On a day the South will see the two mega releases of '7 Aam Arivu' and 'Velayudham', Khan has made sure his 'RA.One' is well ahead in the race for the Box Office top slot with a brilliant casting coup. Southern megastar Rajinikanth plays a cameo in the film, cementing the support of millions of his fans.

Arjun Rampal plays the title role of 'RA.One', an anti-hero out to destroy humanity in the film directed by Anubhav Sinha. Khan's movie will enter the non-traditional markets of South Korea and Hong Kong. On 500 screens, it will be in the 3D format.

Initial response to film

Filmmaker Karan Johar gave big thumbs up to the film and the initial response pouring in from film fraternity has been largely positive.

Giant leap for Bollywood technology

'RA.One' reportedly has 3,500 VFX shots and SRK collaborated with Jeffrey Kleiser, co-founder of US-based Synthesian Studios, to supervise the work done by the Indian film star's RedchilliesVFX team.

The film is being released in more than 3,000 screens in the domestic market in 2D and around 500 screens in 3D. Sinha and Khan watched as many as 200 superhero films in multiple languages from all over the world before making 'RA.One'.

Khan has roped in Oscar winner Resul Pookutty for the special sound effects. The team went to Los Angeles get the sound effects done for the film. Jeff Kleiser of 1994 Hollywood film "Stargate" was hired as the supervisor of visual effects.

Nicola Pecorini of 'Loathing in Las Vegas' fame is the director of photography, while the film is edited by Academy-award winner Martin Walsh.

It has 3,500 VFX shots, which could mark a new beginning for the use of the technology in Indian films. The task of adding special effects was outsourced to multiple specialty studios including in London, Paris and Bangkok, as also in the US. Dolby surround 7.1 system has been installed in several multiplexes in the run-up to the sci-fi's release.

Chinese actor Jackie Chan was reportedly approached for a role in the film and later Chinese-American actor Tom Wu was signed on to be a part of the film. The G.One suit that Khan wears in the film is made of silicon, styrofoam and rubber and is said to be considerably heavy. SRK said he lost 5 kgs after shooting in the superhero suit.

Khan had to don prosthetic make up for 8 to 10 hours a day without a break which made it difficult for him to even eat and drink.

Music of 'RA.One'

Khan roped in international singer Akon for two songs - "Chammak Challo" and "Criminal" - and both of them are a rage. The Dildara ballad is also popular among youngsters. The music launch of 'RA.One' was streamed live on a video-sharing site for an undisclosed amount.

The most promoted film ever?

The event's telecast rights are believed to have been sold to the TV channel for a Rs 10 crore. Satellite rights of the film have reportedly been sold for Rs 35 crore, while distribution rights have been sold for Rs 77 crore.

The first trailer was aired during the World Cup and later came tie-ups with Champions League T20, UTV Indiagames for online games and iPhone/iPad application for fans, Sony Playstation for video games, Google Plus and Seventymm, a leading DVD rental company for merchandising, as well as with Homeshop18 to sell superhero film merchandise and Youtube.

The G.One online store is selling merchandise related to the film. In past one month, the film's promotion saw an all time high with Shah Rukh's eight-city tour to create awareness about it, his back-to-back appearances on the finales of reality shows "India's Got Talent", "Just Dance" and "Sa Re Ga Ma Li'l Champs" as well as occupying the hot seat on "Kaun Banega Crorepati".

Now all eyes are on the box office collection of the movie and trade pundits say it will have to gross Rs 200 crore to break even.

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There is a superhero hidden in every father: SRK

He zipped into the city, wowed the waiting throngs, danced to a few beats and won thousands of hearts - all in the way only he can.

People looking for their superhero got the feel of him as Shah Rukh Khan bared his heart about "Ra.One", his Diwali release, at a city theatre on Monday. "Children have become very important as the audience these days and this film is dedicated to all the youngsters. My own relationship with my father was very important as I lost him very early. I believe that a father and a son share a very unique relationship - much different from what the child shares with the mother. Every son should believe that there is a superhero hidden in his father," said ShahRukh.

Talking about how different the film was from his other hits like "My Name Is Khan", he said, "Every film has its own appeal. "My Name Is Khan" was a very niche film and had an important social message. But "Ra.One" is an out-and-out entertainment film with its usual dose of songs and dance. It has a wider appeal and many more prints have been sent overseas this time."

The film has tested other actors as well and Arjun Rampal, who plays Ra.One, the bad guy, in the film admitted that his own daughters were scared when they saw him with a shaven head. "This is the first time a film has been named after the villain and my role was very important. While "Om Shanti Om" was super-challenging for me, I pushed myself really hard for this film too. The physical activity was intense and I didn't know that certain muscles in my body existed," Arjun said.

While the action had both the stars injured, Shah Rukh revealed that these sequences are not violent or mean. "The action sequences are very stylized and the hand-to-hand fights are very well choreographed. We have two very special car chase scenes, which would be a first in India and there is a spectacular scene in which an entire building is brought down," he said. And why did he start his film promos so early? Was he scared of competition from the other Khans? "I am Shah Rukh Khan and I never ask people to come and see my film. This film was special and that's why we started early," he signed off.

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SRK goes all out to make Ra.One a cracker of a Diwali release

Considering that Shahrukh Khan has ventured into an unfamiliar genre of super hero flicks, which has not received much appreciation from Indian public, the superstar is going all out to create awareness and interest in the genre.

Shahrukh kicked off the promotions of 'Ra.One' by releasing the first look of the film on Twitter in January this year, followed by the ten-second trailer of the film during World Cup match in the month of March.

The first theatrical trailer of 'Ra.One' was released three months later during a five city tour and a 3600 ft long fan mail was collected with messages from audiences.

In early September, SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment launched viral marketing campaign for promoting the film more effectively in the online arena.

"Overall marketing idea is of Shahrukh. Considering the movie is the first of its kind being made in India, extraordinary promotions were required. The idea is to create buzz about the movie," Shailja Gupta, Digital & Merchandising head of Red Chillies, said.

An official customised 'Ra.One' channel was launched on YouTube, a first for an Indian film, where audiences can see theatrical promos, songs, events, uncut footage, videos of 'Ra.One' premiere and red carpet events.

Western Union, a leader in global payment services to launch a global campaign, joined hands with Red Chillies for international promotions. Through this, Shahrukh is looking to target Indian families settled abroad.

The makers have also collaborated with the Formula One races as a part of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. SRK launched a digital avatar of G.One, the character he plays in the film and roped in UTV Indiagames to design a social game based on the film, which serves the dual purpose of marketing and entertaining in digital space.

UTV Indiagames also developed digital comics based on the film's characters. Written by Shahrukh, the comic has weekly episodes and serves as prequel to events in the movie. Also, an official G.One store has been launched on the film's official website, where people could buy the film merchandise.

The 45-year-old actor collaborated with several brands like Nokia, Godrej Consumer Products, Coca-Cola, Cinthol, Gitanjali Group, Horlicks, McDonalds and others to promote the film and its merchandise.

"On the digital front, we have tied up with You Tube, UTV Indiagames, Sony playstation and others. Besides promoting on digital platform, we have tied up with several brands... some of them are new and some are which Shahrukh is already associated with," Gupta said.

"Also, we have entered into stationary area with 'Back to School' theme where we have items like pencil, toy laptop, compass box, etc. We have tied up with international partners in places like Germany, Italy, US," she said.

Co-producers and distributors Eros International has recovered money through in-film branding, media endorsements, music and satellite rights. The film has subsidised through brand ties-up with over 25 brands worth over Rs 52 crore.

"Every movie has its own size so accordingly branding is done. Today marketing has become an important crux of filmmaking business. One has to pull audiences to theatres and needs to indulge in innovative marketing," Eros International CFO Kamal Jain said.

"It is an intelligent recovery move. Since investment is huge, there is nothing wrong in recovering the money through effective marketing and distribution. In order to have a wider release of the movie, marketing has to be effective. It is a five day weekend, the movie is getting released in over 3,000 screens in India and over 500 screens worldwide," he said.

From appearing on TV shows to collaborating with brands and using other marketing tools to promote his movie, Shahrukh however, refuses to be labelled as a marketing guru. "These terms are all nonsensical. I think every actor talks about his films in some or the other way and like them I also do things when my film is about to release. I feel I am no marketing guru," Shahrukh had told reporters.

"But I do feel in order to reach out to more people one needs to be innovative so that more and more people can be made aware about your film." Trade Analyst Komal Nahata said, "I would call this clever marketing. It is a smart move to recover money much before the release. It is business-like approach. I don't think he is going overboard with promotions. Since this movie has a huge budget, marketing plays a vital role... it has to be done on a vast scale."

"It is essential for 'Ra.One' to pull up top line margins. The film stands out on the Indian core, like it has good songs, humour, family drama and etc," he said. 'Ra.One', a science-fiction film starring Shahrukh, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in lead roles, is all set to release on October 26.

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SRK interacts with Bangalore fans in Kannada

Shah Rukh Khan knows his marketing tricks well -- and he proved it when he greeted and interacted with his fans here in Kannada, drawing a huge approving roar.

The 45-year-old, on a multi-city promotional tour, was in the Silicon City Sunday.

He spoke in Kannada much to the delight of his fans. Shah Rukh started his speech by greeting his fans with a "Namaskaara"!

He used Kannada words and phrases like "Bengaluru Chennagidhe" (Bangalore is a beautiful city), "Oota Aayitha?" (Had your lunch?) and "Chennagidhdheera" (How are you, are you okay?).

The actor went down the memory lane, recalling the few days that he spent in Bangalore as a child. He said he had always had fond memories of the city.

Though he didn't speak much about the film, he entertained the public by grooving to the catchy tunes of its song "Chammak challo".

Shah Rukh told journalists about the special appearance of Rajinikanth in the film.

He said Rajinikanth will play the role of Chitti - the same character that he played in the Shankar-directed Tamil film " Endhiran".

Shah Rukh also talked about the cameos by Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra.

"I wanted both Khalnayak and Desi Girl to be part of my film. That is why they are part of the film," he said.

There was a lot of frenzy among his fans when Shah Rukh threw the audio CD album at the Royal Meenakshi Mall at the Bannerghatta Road.

The superstar, who plays a super hero in the mega-budget "RA.One", presented mementoes to some of his fans during the promotional event for the movie, releasing this Diwali, Oct 26.

Hundreds of starry-eyed fans cheered for the actor outside the mall, and waited for him with welcome banners. Some even stood with vinyl banners of his film.

Shah Rukh got on to the roof the car to greet his fans. Some teenage fans kissed him after receiving mementoes from him.

A few fans, who got special passes for the event, danced with Shah Rukh.

"RA.One" also features Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal.

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Vishal Dadlani bets on 'Ra.One'

Music composer, Vishal Dadlani is so taken in by Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film, " Ra.One" that he is ready to throw an open challenge to anyone who says the film will not be a commercial success.

Vishal, who has also composed the current flavour of the season, "Chammak Chalo", a song from "Ra.One" along with his friend and music partner, Shekhar, says, "I can bet that the film will gross an average of about Rs 200 crores in the first 2 weeks itself. I am ready to bet this with anyone who wants to accept that challenge from me."

The duo who are working with Shah Rukh in the fourth film, are convinced that the film is bound to do exceedingly well. "Our association with Shah Rukh is now old enough for us to judge the caliber of his films. When we were given the script, we couldn't stop reading it through the night till we had finished it. It's not your regular love story, it is about a father-son relationship that is so touching that even Shekhar and I were moved to tears," says Vishal.

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'The best special effects of Ra.One happened at Mannat'

In the first part of this interesting conversation with Anubhav Sinha, the director spoke about directing two superstars, Shah Rukh Khan and Rajnikanth.

In this part, Sinha tells Sonil Dedhia how he first met SRK in New Delhi when they were trying to make it big in showbiz. He gives some closer details about SRK, and also talks about the toughest part of shooting Ra.One.

Reports suggest Karan Johar and Tarun Mansukhani directed a portion of Ra.One. Is that true?

Karan Johar directed for a day and a half but Tarun Mansukhani did not direct anything. Tarun did come on the sets for one schedule and I don't want to speak about why was he there. He is a very dear friend of mine and I respect him and his work.

Why did Karan come on board?

It was on my insistence Karan directed the part. Ra.One was shot for 160 days. We were shooting in London and for some logistical reason the shoot had to be extended. We didn't want to cancel it. Initially, Shah Rukh and I had decided to do the shot breakdown on paper and he would shoot in London and I would juggle between the two locations. But we realised that would not be wise.

I asked Shah Rukh if Karan could shoot the two- day schedule and he was gracious enough to do it.

So was Shah Rukh Khan going to direct a part of Ra.One?

Not really direct a part of the film. As I said earlier, I would do the shot division and he would execute it and okay the shot.

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Shahrukh Khan visits Rajinikanth at his residence

Shahrukh Khan who was in Chennai to launch the trailer and audio of Ra One paid a visit to Super Star rajinikanth at his residence.

Shahrukh Khan spent about 15 minutes with Rajinikanth. 'He was well when I spoke to him. He is very keen to start work,' Shahrukh Khan said, replying to a question on Superstar's health.

Rajinikanth will be seen in the role of 'Chitti', the robot, in the science-fiction film Ra One.

Meanwhile launching the audio on Monday SRK said, ' Rajinikanth is a legend and he was grateful to him for he chose to do a cameo in Ra One upon his request without any hesitation.

He further said that Rajinikanth is an epitome of humbleness and that he is a great fan of him.

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‘Ra.One’ Tamil Audio release on Oct 10

SRK will be paying a visit to Superstar Rajinikanth in Chennai when he comes down for the IPL matches, now the latest is the King Khan will unveil the audio and the trailer of the film on October 10 in here!

 

The film jointly presented by Eros International and Red Chillies Entertainment will see its audio and trailer launch at Sathyam Cinemas. The event is said to take place at a grand scale and SRK’s fans in here are enthralled about the same.

SRK’s ‘Ra.One’ that is gearing up for a release in a couple of weeks will see Shahrukh play a superhero, G.One, whereas the team has remained tight-lipped throughout about their villain Ra.One, played by Arjun Rampal. ‘Ra.One’ has constantly made headlines due to the marketing guru’s innovative strategies.

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Ra.One is the most expensive film made in India: Shahrukh Khan

Now caught up with Shahrukh Khan for his views on his new and ambitious movie Ra.One and his film marketing strategies.

For a film like Ra.One, I was told that you are really attempting that this particular character will not die post the movie and it plans to live on with many more Ra.Ones, probably sequels coming on and you are really looking to make and create a Ra.One character for the long term. That' a very maverick move, something that has not been attempted in India before. How did you think of it?
I would like it happen like that, but having been in the business for so long, there is many a slip by the time you get the movie from the paper onto the celluloid. Always everyone makes a film with a lot of love and hope that you can first of all make everyone like it. And then certain films, which you even assume to be different, suddenly turns out to be different.

So movies take a life of their own, but having said that, when I thought of Ra.One, Ra.One being the bad guy, actually who I would like to go on is G.One, the good guy, because normally superheroes are the one and I would like to get new villains. One of the strange thoughts, which I think is the first time I am saying it anywhere, is I want to name each film with the name of the new villain.

Wow!

Everyone always has a superhero name. That's a thought, it could be completely wrong. Nobody has done it. There must be a reason nobody has done it or maybe nobody thought of it, but I really would like to do that because there are two reasons. One, we do not have films which are designed as franchises. They just get made. So Dhoom was a fantastic franchise, Don, we never thought we will have a part 2 or Golmaal.

So these are certain films which just take a life of their own and then we decide to do, but it is important that we do start making films, so they kind of create an event. Movie watching is now an everyday thing. Earlier on when we used to watch a movie, that was the day set aside for a movie. Now movies are one of the things that you do as the day goes on. You meet friends, you hang out at the mall, watch the movie, then go and have food and drinks. So it is one of the things.

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Shahrukh Khan likely to visit Rajni in Chennai?

Bollywood badshah Shahrukh Khan will be in Chennai on October 9 to cheer his IPL team. Meanwhile sources close to the actor reveal that the Bollywood badshah may pay Rajinikanth a visit at his residence. Rajinikath recently traveled to Mumbai, inspite of his health trouble, to complete his shoot (cameo appearance) for Ra. One.

"I'm a Rajini fanatic. I will definitely pay him a visit at home on my next trip to Chennai, SRK was quoted saying.

He further added, "I am also impressed with the work of Mammooty and Mohanlal. These are actors I deeply admire. I just wish I can be as humble as Rajini sir some day. He's a fantastic human being. He has touched my life in more ways than one."

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Shah Rukh Khan on Kaun Banega Crorepati

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was left amazed at Amitabh Bachchan's energy levels when he went for a special shoot on the 68-year-old megastar's quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati.

"KBC was fun though I am sure very tiring for Mr.B...hats off to him...(sic)" Shah Rukh posted on
Twitter.

Shah Rukh, who is busy promoting his film RA.One these days, shot for the show in Mumbai on Friday.

His superhero film is releasing this Diwali, October 26.

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