TBL rakes in Rs50m in opening weekend

MUMBAI: Debutant director Abhishek Sharma's satire Tere Bin Laden has grossed over Rs 50 million in its opening weekend. Released Friday, Tere Bin Laden grossed Rs 50 million all over India in the first three days from 344 screens and and gave tough competition to Sanjay Dutt-Bipasha Basu starrer Lamhaa and Vikramaditya Motwane's internationally acclaimed Udaan that released the same day. Encouraged by the strong response, Boney Kapoor's BSK Network and Entertainment, distributors of the film, are now planning to widen the release by an additional 40-50 prints in the second week. Internationally too, the film is enjoying a strong run and has already grossed $150,000 from Britain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia while a US release for the same is still in the pipeline. "After all the hard work, it is truly rewarding to know that audiences are responding positively. We are also very grateful that our colleagues from the industry supported us after watching the film and helped spread the word," Pooja Shetty Deora and Aarti Shetty, producers of the movie, said in a statement. "Tere Bin Laden" is a humorous take on the 9/11 mastermind. It is the launch vehicle of Pakistani singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar and newcomer Pradhuman Singh, who portrays Osama in the movie. The multiplexes too are counting on the Osama satire. "Of the three films released last Friday, Tere Bin Laden is doing better. Though LamhaaTere Bin Laden has performed exceptionally well," Amit Shah, chief manager (programming) of DLF DT cinemas, told IANS. "The reviews for the movie are good and there is a good word of mouth publicity for the same. It has had an average of 70 percent occupancy over the weekend compared to 60 and 40 percent acquired by Lamhaa and Udaan respectively. The collections are also matching for both Tere Bin Laden and Lamhaa," he added. Yogesh Raizada, corporate head (cinemas) of Wave Cinemas, said: "Both Lamhaa and Tere Bin Laden did a neck to neck business. Tere Bin Laden is a movie for the masses with full comedy and is being thoroughly enjoyed by both family and friends." "Both Lamhaa and Tere Bin Laden have had over 70 per cent occupancy each while Udaan is a more serious and youth-centric movie with over 60 per cent occupancy over the weekend," he added. Lamhaa is based on the turmoil in the Kashmir valley. Produced by GS Entertainment and distributed by PVR Pictures, it also stars Kunal Kapoor and Anupam Kher. Udaan is about a father-son relationship. It has been co-produced by Anurag Kashyap, Sanjay Singh and UTV Motion Pictures and features 17-year-old Rajat Barmecha along with popular TV stars Ronit Roy and Ram Kapoor. "All three movies have been good... " is a very well made film and very enjoyable while Udaan is doing good too," said Amit Awasthi, senior manager (programming and operations) of Spice Cinemas.