Swamp the market with as many prints as you can, clean up the box office in the first couple of weeks – that’s a strategy many a filmmaker is resorting to these days. So why should Kumar Mangat, Ajay Devgan’s erstwhile secretary, be any different? According to information available with Businessofcinema.com, his film Omkara, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj is to be released with 600 prints.
This is a record for an Ajay Devgan starrer; earlier films in which he was the lead like Kaal and Shikhar had released with 500 prints each.
Releasing the film with 600 prints will mean that the per print revenues will fall, but the distributor is betting that overall the box office should be higher.
Other films which have taken a similar tack in the past include Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham which had been released with a record 700 prints. That record has since been broken by Krrish which is being released on 23 June with 800 prints. Remember: other block-busters such as Lagaan and Gadar-Ek Prem Katha were released with around 300 prints.
Omkara directed by Vishal Bhardwaj’s and starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan
