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Tight Security For Hindustan Ki Kasam Release

A P Kamath in New York

Hoping for a hit after several weeks of famine, Eros Entertainment has opened director Veeru Devgan's Hindustan Ki Kasam on about 30 screens. The lackluster performance of the much-touted Mann has led to higher expectations for Hindustan... Eros will also release Subash Ghai's Taal in early August.

The advertisement for Hindustan Ki Kasam in Indian newspapers shows the flags of India and Pakistan facing each other. But Eros is not displaying those advertisements outside the movie houses showing the film.

Some theater owners showing the film have beefed up the security, remembering the occasion when Pakistani activists stopped the screening of Border for couple of days in about six cities. The Sarfarosh screenings went without any major snags because of the extra security.

"If you defuse the tension on the first day itself, and make sure there are no disturbances, protestors will forget the movie thereafter," says Kenny Singh, the owner of a theater near Woodbridge in New Jersey.

Two other Eros movies -- Haseena Maan Jayegi and Hote Hote Pyar Ho Gaya -- are continuing to show in their fifth week on half a dozen screens. Of the two, Haseena... has done better business, grossing about $400,000.

Meanwhile, a relatively new company, Premier Movies Ltd, is taking full-page advertisements in the ethnic newspapers to promote Pyar Koi Khel Nahin. The movie starring Sunny Deol, Mahima Choudhry and Apoorva Agnihotri is being released on July 30.

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