OSO creates history in Indian Cinema

Thursday, November 22, 2007

London, 2007: Eros International, the leading integrated company within the Indian media&entertainment sector announces an unprecedented opening of Shahrukh Khan"s Om Shanti Om, produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and directed by Farah Khan. The film opened to rave reviews and advance bookings on the 9th November and has since grossed over US$19 million worldwide in its first week making it the most successful opening in Indian cinema history.

Om Shanti Om released across 1,400 plus screens globally, and for the first time saw screenings as early as 7.45 a.m. in certain multiplexes in India, making it one of the mostanticipated films in recent times. Om Shanti Om"s staggering first week gross collections of US$13.5 million in India make it the best ever opening there. The figures overseas are no less remarkable with the film grossing $1.5 million at the UK box office and over $2million in North America in its first week.

With as many as 14-16 shows planned daily in its second week at some multiplexes, Eros International is looking forward to an excellent run of King Khan"s film offering.

Kishore Lulla, Chairman and CEO, Eros International Plc said: “We are ecstatic with the audience as well as critics" reactions to Om Shanti Om. It was one of the most awaited films of the year and we are excited that the magic combination of Shahrukh Khan and Farah Khan has proved to be a huge success once again. The superb run of the film in the first week has superceded all expectations and we are confident of the film"s performance in the weeks to come."

“We were expecting a commercial success but this kind of response has been overwhelming. It"s great that audiences as well as critics have appreciated the film. We had a lot of fun making this film and I am thrilled that audiences are having fun watching it too", Farah Khan added.

With the film opening in cinemas in India to a fantastic 95-100 percent capacity audiences and maintaining a steady 80-90 percent from Monday, Om Shanti Om promises to be the biggest film of SRK"s career.

Om Shanti Om stars Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack has been composed by the musical duo, Vishal Shekhar with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Cinematography for the movie is by V. Manikandan whilst editing is handled by Shirish Kunder.

Om Shanti Om is a story of love, dreams, betrayal and destiny revolving around a film actor 'Om" (Shahrukh Khan) and his love interest 'Shanti" (Deepika Padukone). Om was a junior artist and Shanti a superstar in the 1970"s. He was her biggest fan. She was his biggest inspiration.

The film has over 30 of Bollywood's hottest stars including Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kajol, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and many more putting in a guest appearance.

Eros has previously distributed Main Hoon Na as well as Paheli, which are both Red Chillies Productions.

With Om Shanti Om, Eros International continues its successful line up of global releases including hits like Omkara, Salaam-E-Ishq, Eklavya, Provoked, Namastey London, Cheeni Kum, Partner, Gandhi My Father, Heyy Babyy etc.