Now that the hype has reached feverish pitch, the day of reckoning for Lage Raho Munna Bhai (LRMB) is close at hand.

Stakeholders must be heartened by the fact that a Mumbai multiplex has sold out 13 shows of the film, thanks largely to internet and SMS bookings. The all-new chapter in the life of Munna is attracting mounting enquiries for block bookings.

Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra seems to be confident that he has a winner on his hands. He has repeatedly stated that he believes LRMB is a better film than Munnabhai, MBBS. Ironically, he seems to be putting your money where his mouth is! There have been reports that he is seeking a rate hike of multiplex tickets for LRMB, just as the Yash camp did for Fanaa.

Taking a cue from the success of Rang De Basanti, LRMB will attempt to stir up nationalistic fervor that will hopefully keep cash registers ringing at box offices for many weeks. Loftily enough, it will endeavor to sell the line that the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, continue to have relevance even today.

The build up hasn't been perfect though. The music for the film didn't get rave reviews. A TV channel dubbed it as ‘better than mediocre'. However, Music director Shantanu Moitra is confident his work will be well received by audiences.

The title track of LRMB is hummable at best. The song that is better placed to rule the airwaves is ‘Pal, har Pal'. However, there is a problem. Once again Moitra seems to have cloned his number from popular English music tracks, like he did in Parineeta. The lilting Pal, har Pal is a clean lift of Cliff Richard famous ‘Theme for a Dream'.

It may be recalled that Munnabhai M.B.B.S, was released with no fanfare whatsoever in the winter of 2003 and it went on to become a blockbuster.

The movie also set high standards for Indian cinema to follow. What remains to be seen is whether movie audiences will once again script the success saga of LRMB when it opens on September 1.