New Delhi: Much-hyped and much-awaited movies “Drona” and “Kidnap”, which release Thursday along with cross-border film “Ramchand Pakistani”, have got a great initial response in advance bookings at ticket counters.

The fact they are releasing on Eid and during the Navaratri season are seen as the main reasons behind the initial rush.

Trade pundits, however, are not too sure about the quality of their content, but predict a whopping initial response at the box office thanks to the holiday mood.


“The fate of both the movies is doubtful as the promos are not that appealing. However, the initial response to the movies will be very good due to the festive season of Eid, Oct 2 (Gandhi Jayanti) and Dussehra,” Joginder Mahajan, a Delhi-based distributor, told IANS.

“Both films have failed to leave an impact so far as their music is concerned. While, ‘Kidnap’ is much more hyped than ‘Drona’ because of Imran Khan who gave a hit with his debut itself, ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ is a good film that leaves its impact on people but will have only a limited audience,” he said.

Said Ashok Bisht, assistant manager of Jam Cinemas, a multiplex chain here: “The promos of ‘Drona’ are not that appealing and its promotion has also been less compared to ‘Kidnap’, which definitely has an edge because of Imran Khan,” he said.

Directed by Sanjay Gadhvi, “Kidnap” stars Imran Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Minissha Lamba. It is a crime thriller about a young man who masterminds a series of events and circumstances that force a billionaire to commit crimes to save his kidnapped daughter.

On the other hand, Goldie Behl’s “Drona” is a fictional fantasy and narrates the story of Aditya (Abhishek Bachchan), a descendant of a royal family who is also called Drona and fights powerful magician Ritz, played by Kay Kay Menon, to save the world from his evil intentions.

Priyanka Chopra plays his bodyguard in the film.

Pakistani film “Ramchand Pakistani”, which is being released in India by Percept Picture Company, is directed by Mehreen Jabbar and stars Nandita Das with Pakistani actors Rashid Farooqui, Noman Ijaz, Maria Wasti and Farooq Pario.

In terms of budget, producers Shrishti Arya and Sunil Lulla have invested around Rs.600 million in “Drona”, while Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision’s “Kidnap” is a low-budget film made on an approximate budget of around Rs.200 million.

On the contrary, Jabbar’s “Ramchand Pakistani” is a nominal-budget project made at $650,000 (Rs.30 million or 40 million Pakistani rupees).

“Kidnap” will be released worldwide with 936 prints. The film opened in the Middle East Wednesday with paid previews in British and the US. “Drona” will be released globally with over 2,500 prints.

“Ramchand Pakistani” will release in India with just 40 prints.

An official from PVR cinemas said: “There is a good pre-release response to all three movies. However, ‘Kidnap’ is getting a very good response so far.”

Gadhvi, who was here to promote his movie, does not see any competition with the other releases.

He told IANS: ” ‘Kidnap’ has no competition in any discipline with any movie. Today we have a multiplex system everywhere and people can go and watch both the films if they want.”

Jabbar, meanwhile, said she was not at all worried about the box office as her film had already travelled to several international film festivals.

She said: “I am not worried about the box office collections. I just want my film to reach the audience. I don’t even know anything about the movies that are releasing with my movie.”