Exhibitors and cinema chains have added more shows of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali's latest directorial venture "Main Vaapas Aaunga" across theatres in its second week following strong audience response, the makers said on Saturday.
The film, a Partition-era romantic drama that unfolds across two timelines and generations, released in cinemas across the country on June 12. It stars Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Sharvari and Vedang Raina in the lead roles.
According to the makers, more shows are being screened across several markets to cater to growing demand despite the arrival of multiple new releases this weekend.
The film's distributors and exhibitors said the response to the movie has strengthened considerably over the past week.
Devang Sampat, managing director of multiplex chain Cinepolis India, said the film has benefited from strong audience recommendations.
"This is an exceptional film that is witnessing strong word-of-mouth and a remarkable turnaround at the box office. Cinepolis India, operating 497 screens across the country, has increased shows by 30 per cent from Friday to Saturday owing to soaring demand and rapidly improving occupancies nationwide," Sampat said.
Ritesh Arora, programming head at MovieMax, which operates 85 screens across 22 multiplexes, said the film's performance strengthened steadily through the week.
"While the film had a slow start last week, it witnessed an impressive turnaround during the weekdays with steadily improving collections. The momentum has continued into the weekend, with shows going houseful and additional screenings being added to cater to the increasing audience demand," Arora said.
Aditya Chowksey, distributor for the Central Provinces (CP) and Central India (CI) circuits, said the film had registered significant growth over its opening-day collections.
"'Main Vaapas Aaunga' has picked up beautifully on the strength of a very strong word of mouth. The first Friday in the CI circuit was Rs 1.64 lakh, but the first week closed at Rs 25 lakh, which is more than 15 times the day-one number. Similarly, in the CP circuit, the day-one number was Rs 2.30 lakh, but the week closed at Rs 26 lakh, more than 11 times the opening-day figure," Chowksey said.
He added that the second Friday collections were substantially higher than the first Friday, with the CI circuit collecting Rs 5 lakh and the CP circuit earning Rs 3.63 lakh.
"The existing cinemas have increased the shows on public demand and on Saturday morning of the second week, three cinemas -- Velocity Indore, H2M Washim and JCM Ambikapur -- have been added," he said.
West Bengal distributor Satadeep Saha said the number of shows for the film in the state had increased from 24 on Friday to more than 50, with over 75 screenings planned for Sunday.
The film has also found support from exhibitors in key southern markets.
Bobby, senior manager at Hyderabad's Allu Cineplex LLP, said the movie has been a "big success", adding that the multiplex increased its screenings from seven shows initially to 13 shows last week.
"Main Vaapas Aaunga" is produced by Applause Entertainment and Birla Studios along with Mohit Choudhary and Shibasish Sarkar.
