Where should "Patiala House" be premiered? In Patiala, of course. So felt Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal who requested the film's leading man Akshay Kumar to ensure that it is first screened in this town.

"This movie is about a Punjabi family that is settled abroad. Countless of Punjabis would relate to the theme of this movie. So I had requested him to organise its premiere show at Patiala. I will also be attending, " said Sukhbir Singh, also the son of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Sukhbir Singh had met Akshay a few days ago at the first Punjabi films awards function at Panchkula.

Thanks to his effort, the erstwhile princely city of Punjab will witness a galaxy of Bollywood stars, including Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, at the SRS Cinema Thursday for the screening of "Patiala House".

The premiere was earlier scheduled to be held in Mumbai. The movie releases in India and abroad Friday.

Ironically, the film has nothing to do with Patiala, the home of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh Badal, about 65 km from the state capital Chandigarh.

Shot in London, the film is about a Punjabi family that is settled in Southall city. The film highlights the dilemmas of a second generation Sikh Punjabi and his aspirations to make it to the English cricket team.

Patiala residents are thrilled that the film gets its first screening here.

"It is a matter of great pride for all Punjabis. The name of this city has become popular all across the world through the title of this movie. There is also a mention of famous 'Patiala peg' in one of the songs of this movie, " Satjit Sandhu, an engineering student at Patiala University here, told.