With Ramzan nearing an end it is festival time again! The month will now see a spate of top Hindi film releases. In fact the distributors of Kaante are looking forward to full houses as Ramzan will have come to an end by then and most Muslims, that comprise 40% of movie going audience will throng to the theatres to see the film. The film makers feel it is an apt time for films to release. The theatres have been packed to full houses for the coming week.

Distributors think that the month long festival that has the Muslims on abstaining from all kinds of entertainment is not the best time to release films. Concedes distributor Shyam Shroff! Says he, "A film that is expected to make a profit actually makes a loss when released during Ramzan and that is because the number of people that will go to the theatre to see a film is far less."

According to Shroff the distributor has to consider several aspects before releasing his film. Firstly they have to see that there is no clash of top two releases. The second and one of the most important factors is the release should not fall on the festival day. "People, during festival time, are busy spending time shopping and meeting people so where do they have time to go to the theatres. Also, since they have already incurred expenses buying clothes and gifts, they would not want to spend money watching a Hindi film," he explains. Shroff feels that the best time to release a film is during the vacation. "Most of the crowd that visits the theatres comprises of youngsters and since their colleges and schools are shut during this time it is ideal time to release a film."

THE RELEASES IN A CAPSULE -

Veer Zaara
Yash Chopra much hyped Veer Zaara starring Shahrukh Khan, Priety Zinta and Rani Mukherjee releases this week. The films stands to be the biggest star attraction of Diwali. Veer Zaara begins with an incarcerated Shahrukh Khan. He has been mum since the very time he has been jailed. What could be the reason for his silence? Human rights activist, played Rani Mukherjee takes up his case hoping that her fight for him will get him his freedom. Preity Zinta plays Shahrukh's love interest in the film. Priety plays a Pakistani girl engaged to Manoj Bajpai. A accident happens to make her meet Shahrukh who introduces her to the beautiful locales of Punjab. It is during this time that Priety loses her heart to Shahrukh. But their love culminate into marriage? Veer-Zaara is film made with the aim to melt the differences between two warring nations.





Naach
Yet another film from the Factory of Ramgopal Varma. Naach is pun on life-the way life makes you dance. Antara Mali plays a choreographer while Abhishek is an actor. It is when working with Antara that Abhishek loses his heart to her. What are the hurdles and blocks they face is what the film is all about? The film has made news for Antara's unconventional dresses.



Mughal-E-Azam
The legendary film releases once again albeit with digital dolby sound and colour. The story of Prince salim and Anarkali is by now famous. Prince (Dilifalls in love with a courtesan (Madhubala) much to chagrin of Emperor Akbar. However the events that took transpired off screen that make the film interesting. For instance, the producers of Mughal-E-Azam, Shapurji-Pallanji, at one time contemplated replacing director K. Asif with Shorab Modi. That Madhubala was suffering from a severe heart ailment during the making of this epic saga and the heavy chains that she had to be entangled, in left her gasping for breath every time she completed the shot. That Dilip Kumar wanted a top billing in the titles but K. Asif tactfully told him that the story was made from Akbar's point of view and hence it would be Prithiviraj Kapoor and not Kumar whose name would appear in the title first. That real rice pearls were used in the scene showing Prince Salim's necklace breaking and the pearls scattering on the floor. That singer Bade Ghulam Ali Sahib charged a whopping Rs 25000 to sing a song which was an astronomical amount compared to singers like Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar who charged not more than Rs 300 to Rs 400 per song in those days.


Aitraaz
Yet another thriller from directors Abbas-Mustan! This time it is not a woman being propostioned by a man but a man (Akshay Kumar) being made to compromise on his principles when his boss's wife (Priyanka Chopra) propositions him. He is then accused of having raped her. It is only another woman, Akshay's wife (Kareena Kapoor) who stands by him and brings the wrong doer to book. How does Akshay cope with the humiliation is what the film is all about. Aitraaz has glimpses of Indecent Proposal. It is also based on a true case where a woman had accused an NRI based South African lawyer for having raped her.