BOX OFFICE: Paid Previews Of ‘Chennai Express’ House-Full!

This year's most awaited film, 'Chennai Express', directed by Rohit
Shetty and starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, is finally
released today. As expected, the box office anticipation is extremely
high.

Produced by Shah Rukh Khan's banner
Red Chillies Productions, 'Chennai
Express' is probably one of the biggest
Bollywood releases this year.
Expectations are already sky- high, with
the film grabbing eyeballs everywhere. Add to that is the festive season, and it
sure looks like the 'Chennai Express'
team has a true-blue winner on their
hands.

We spoke to a few top officials at multiplexes and single screen theatres,
to get a sense of what they predict will
be the opening for the film:

As Cinemax Deputy GM-Corporate Communications and Public Relations Mr.
Girish Wankhede says, "The buzz for
'Chennai Express' is awesome. For today,
all the paid previews are going housefull, while tomorrow also there
is heavy bookings. There is also block bulk
bookings for the weekend, so we predict
for the first two days the occupancy will
be a full 100%. Saturday and Sunday also
looks promising, with the occupancy will
be not less than 90%."

"I won't comment on which film's record
would be broken but I can confidently
say that Chennai Express is going to
create many records for sure, starting
with Paid Previews."

Elaborating on the reason for the
inclusion of paid previews, he said: "We
are glad to screen 10-12 shows on
Thursday itself for two reasons. First and
foremost the buzz is very high and it
makes sense to capitalize on that. Secondly, there is no other
blockbuster in the running that can't be moved. From Friday onwards
there would be an
average of 20 shows at all our major
properties."

A spokesperson of a leading single
screen theatre in Bangalore, Rex
Theatres, agreed with Mr. Wankhede by
saying that buzz is extremely positive.
"Since the film is a festive release, and
add to that it is a big budget Shah Rukh Khan-starrer, buzz is tremendous.
Advance booking trends have been very
encouraging, as the preview shows this
evening are almost sold out. Tomorrow
being a holiday for Eid, we expect
nothing less than an average 90-95% occupancy."

Chennai Express Movie Review: A Total Paisa Vasool Entertainer

Least did the 40-year-old Rahul know
that wooing the beautiful Meenamma in
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ)
style would land him up in such
jeopardy. That was possibly the biggest
mistake of his life. But, this mistake was for good, or in fact the best that
was about to happen in his life.

After ruling the hearts of the audience
for decades as Rahul, Shahrukh is back
in his trademark DDLJ romance in his
latest release Chennai Express, but this
time in Rohit Shetty 'ishtyle'. Chennai
Express is a super masala entertainment and promises a great deal of laughter as
expected from the typical Rohit Shetty
style flicks.

Story:-

It all starts when the 40-year-old
bachelor Rahul (Shahrukh Khan) boards
Chennai Express train that turns out to
be a life changing decision for him. SRK
as Rahul does a DDLJ again, when he
tries hard to woo the South beauty Meenamma Lochni (Deepika Padukone).
Fate plays a twist in such a way that
Rahul gets entrapped with Meenamma,
who is the daughter of an intimidating
south don. Both Rahul and Meenamma
try to elope, but everytime they fail to do so and end up in trouble.

Chennai Express will leave you
whistling, laughing and applauding in
the theatres. The flick is a thorough
entertainer as long as you don't search
for logic in it. Chennai Express makes an
impressive start, especially the train scene, where Shahrukh Khan meets
Deepika Padukone, is just hilarious.

Like almost all the Rohit Shetty movies,
even this one doesn't fail to offer good
dose of over the top action. Adding on
to this, the film also astonishes the mass
through its marvelous cinematography.
It gives you a rich desi village flavour, based on a South backdrop setting.

Performances:

Shahrukh Khan is splendid and
delightful. Even at 47, Khan retains his
old boyish charm onscreen. Though
there's a bit of overacting in parts by
SRK, on the whole, he's the soul of the
Chennai Express.

Deepika Padukone is a complete
stunner. Forget her breathtaking looks
as a South chick, Dippy does an
incredible act in the flick. She lets
herself loose and surrenders to her
character completely. Her performance is impressive.

Nikitin Dheer does justice to his
villainous act, while South star
Sathyaraj doesn't get much opportunity
to prove himself in the film.


Verdict:

Chennai Express is a light-hearted
entertainer, that stands strong and tall
on the shoulders of the super powerful
'Brand Shahrukh Khan'. It is colourful,
fascinating, fun-filled and yes, of course
not a mindless slapstick. And remember, you are going to watch comedy, drama,
lots of comic action and flying cars! In
one word, this one is a total paisa
vasool entertainer.

Rating: 4/5