Refuting reports that the colour version of the 60s classic 'Mughal-e-Azam' was running to empty houses in Gulistan theatre in Lahore where it released on April 24, the makers of the film today said the film was doing above average business.

Sources close to Akbar Asif, son of the late K Asif, told that though the film picked up slowly in the first week of its release, the charm of the classic, coupled with the brilliant techniques used in its colourisation and imparting it a modern look, had, from the second week itself, begun drawing crowds to the theatre.

''One must remember that for many of the people, specially of the older generation, 'Mughal-e-Azam' is not a new film. Infact, it is a film many of them must have seen when it originally released in the 60s. So, initially it is only the younger generation that came to the theatres to watch the film.

However, once the magnificence of the film and its modern and colourised look held them enthrall, word spread of the "out of the world" experience provided by the film, drawing people from the older generation to the theatres,''Dipesh Salgia of Sterling Investment coporation, the right holders of the film, told.

Media reports earlier this week had said 'Mughal-e-Azam' had met with a lukewarm response from the Pakistani audience ever since its release in Gulistan cinema hall in Lahore on April 24.