Shaheer Ahmed
According to India Today, the highest-grossing Pakistani movie of all time will now debut in India on Friday. The masterpiece, which stars Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan, two favourites of Indian audiences, has made more than Rs 220 crores at international box offices.
An Indian entertainment business, INOX Leisure, has reportedly confirmed that it will bring The Legend of Maula Jatt to India. There had been rumours earlier that Bilal’s legendary film would be shown in Punjab, India.
“It will be played in Punjab and a few theatres in Delhi in INOX where there are Punjabi speaking people,” Rajender Singh Jyala, chief programming officer, INOX Leisure Ltd, told PTI.
Multiplex chain PVR Cinemas had shared a release announcement on its official Instagram page but deleted it soon after. “Presenting the official poster of #TheLegendofMaulaJatt! Coming to PVR this Friday,” the post read.
After Bol from 2011, this movie will be the first to open in commercial theatres in India. Indian theatres had previously shown the 2008 film Ramchand Pakistani, starring Nandita Das and Rashid Farooqi. Khuda Kay Liye, a highly regarded movie directed by Shoaib Mansoor, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Fawad, was screened across the border in 2007.
The source also continued, “Zee Studios is mainly looking at releasing The Legend Of Maula Jatt in Delhi-NCR and Punjab. This is because it’s a Punjabi film and will have the maximum chance in the Northern belt..”
An Indian critic said, “Maybe, Zee can release The Legend Of Maula Jatt on December 30 in the North and a week later, it can release it in the rest of the country once the word of mouth spreads. Or it can go for limited screenings in certain centres like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru etc. Let’s see how this unique release strategy pans out.”
He also said, “On December 23, it would have faced competition from Cirkus. Next week, there’s only the Hindi version of HIT: The Second Case releasing and it’s not a strong competition. If The Legend Of Maula Jatt works, it can have a healthy run till the release of Pathaan.”
