As the calendar pages flip over into the festive season of the year, the folks in tinsel town seem to be brimming over with excitement.
With Dussehra and Diwali in the offing, it is that time of the year when people indulge, and restaurants and cinema halls sway with crowd.
This year, movie aficionados are in for more excitement than ever. The Diwali weekend, beginning October 27, will see the clash of Bollywood titans as the year's most eagerly awaited films -- Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir -- hit theatres simultaneously.
Mohabbatein', Aditya Chopra's second coming after Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge is a romantic saga which boasts of a mega cast that includes five newcomers besides Shah Rukh, Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya in the lead. On the other hand Mission Kashmir picks up the burning subject of jihad in Kashmir. Hrithik plays a terrorist in the film and Preity Zinta, his beloved.
Undoubtedly, Mohabbatein promises to be a hearty feast but for one foible-- its 3 hour and 40 minutes duration which has become a cause of concern for theatre owners.
Owing to its long duration the film can have only three screenings a day which means theatre owners will incur losses as they would have to do away with one fourth of what their earnings could have been, had the movie been screened four times a day.
Mission Kashmir on the other hand, provides a lucrative option just by the virtue of having Hrithik.
The Diwali weekend will also be a sort of acid test for both Shah Rukh and Roshan Junior, who are already seen as rivals, thanks to their ad campaigns promoting cola wars.
As the calendar pages flip over into the festive season of the year, the folks in tinsel town seem to be brimming over with excitement. 