Bollywood News

The initial euphoria for "Veer Zaara", which translated into an extraordinary opening response for the film at most places, is said to have marginally subsided now.

Exhibitors point out that the classic tale of love with all its grandeur and magnificence has no doubt appealed to a large section of the intelligentsia, but the same cannot be said of the masses, who are left searching for the light moments in the film, reports Bollywood Trade magazine.

The biggest deterrent however is the length of the film, say exhibitors.

"The audiences are wary of seeing long films these days, especially if they are of the serious kind. The length of "Veer Zaara" is definitely going against it," says exhibitor Manoj Desai of G-7 muliplex.

At Fame Adlabs, Andheri, and Fame, Malad, where the film was released with a record number of eight and nine shows respectively, exhibitors have decided to reduce the number of shows, besides restoring the regular admission rates.

"We are planning to knock off the matinee show and take a decision on the 3 p.m. show depending on the response the show gets in the next few days. We have also decided to reduce the admission rates, which we had hiked to a maximum of Rs.180 in the first-week run of the film," says Neeraj Goswami, manager, programming, Fame.

"We would have continued with the increased rate structure for another week had the film continued with its extraordinary march at the box-office."

Goswami feels that the price hike and the number of movies in opposition are two factors that have gone against the film but the bigger problem that is impeding the film's prospects is its three-and-a-half hour length.

The programming people at Cineline theatres have also decided to reduce the number of shows. But Sanjay Dalia, programming manager, Cineline theatres, is hopeful that the film will have a long and sustained successful run at the box-office.

"The film may not have appealed to teenagers and the college-going crowd in a big way due to its classy feel and the lack of light moments, (apart from those with Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini), but the Muslim audiences seem to have endorsed it in full measure. This section will make up for the lack of mass support," says Dalia.

There are exhibitors like Arun Sharma, programming head of INOX, who continue to have tremendous confidence in the film's prospects irrespective of its mixed post-release reports.

"We opened the film with 10 shows and intend to continue it. The film continues to register a 90-percent occupancy at our chain of multiplexes, be it Goa or Kolkata, where it has been widely appreciated. If I have to rank the four Diwali releases business-wise, 'Veer Zaara' will still be at the top, followed by 'Aitraaz', 'Mughal-e-Azam' and 'Naach', in that order," quips Sharma.