The Bollywood rumour mills were busy on Friday with the release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer   Om Shanti     Om   and Ranbir Kapoor’s   Saawariya   . Insiders claimed that enquiries had already begun for OSO’s next week’s plan, another called up to say that multiplexes in Delhi were getting cancellation calls for telebooking tickets.

However, Arjit Dutta, an exhibitor from Kolkata, maintained that the initial reaction of both the films is very strong. “OSO has an advantage, but one can’t write off Saawariya just because the first reaction is a tad slow.”

An exhibitor from Gujarat pointed out that though reviews on the internet may have damaged Saawariya’ s prospects at the box office, it was a foregone conclusion that OSO would make more money. He offers numbers to back his theory: OSO released with 1,400 prints worldwide , Saawariya with 850 prints. “The net amount per print the distributor of the film will earn will be something between Rs 3 and 4 lakh. So, OSO will be definitely bigger at the box office.”

However, Vikramjit Roy, spokesperson of Sony Pictures, when contacted, said that the film had got an overwhelming response. “We are very bullish about it. The box-office for the first day is estimated at Rs 19 crore.”

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