Defiant Mumbai backs 'My Name Is Khan', snubs Sena

As actor Shah Rukh Khan and the Shiv Sena stayed locked in a combat of wills over the release of My Name Is Khan (MNIK), Mumbaikars took charge on Friday, giving a clear thumbs down to the Sena’s politics of hate. Despite the looming threat of Sena vandalism, they turned out in large numbers at theatres as soon as the movie started playing. Mumbai, however, had a part-release as some wary theatre owners decided to wait and watch.

Stumped by the staggering response, Sena chief Bal Thackeray virtually conceded that his party was whittling down its agitation against Shah Rukh and his movie.

“Whatever Sainiks had to do, they did; let those who love pro-Pakis watch My Name Is Khan,” Thackeray said. He, however, claimed that the agitation against MNIK was a success.

In a Twitter post from Berlin, an elated Shah Rukh thanked the people of Mumbai, saying they were the true heroes. “…i am not a star..u r(sic),” his post said.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan had reason to feel vindicated after taking flak from everyone over his stand on the issue.

“Right from the beginning I was guided by my inner voice. My conscious told me I have to take a strong stand against the perpetrators of violence,” he told iThough the CM had been rumoured to have attended a show, the man who was visible at the theatre was home minister RR Patil, waving a ticket in a sign of triumph and, some say, with the intention of sharing the credit lines.

Meanwhile, exhibitors maintained they needed one day to check for violence as they could not risk their properties. They revealed that all the theatres would look to screen the movie from Saturday. Shirish Handa, CEO, Fun Cinemas, confirmed: “We opened our Andheri property but kept the Chembur property shut today. We couldn’t risk opening both as we didn’t know whether violence will break out. If the night is peaceful then we will look to releasing it on a wider scale across the city.”

Fun Republic (Andheri), Inox (Nariman Point), PVR (Goregaon), Fame (Malad), Big Cinemas (Wadala) and Cinemax (Kandivali) started screening the movie from noon. Top exhibitors on condition of anonymity revealed approximately 50 out of the 63 screens in Mumbai showed MNIK by Friday evening.

Most multiplex owners opened just one of their properties at noon to screen the movie but as the day progressed, even single screen theatre owners joined in. Despite limited release in multiplexes, MNIK garnered a full 100% collection in all the properties while in single screens it opened to a very good 80%. Veteran analyst Taran Adarsh said the domestic and international collections will match that of 3 Idiots.

“It is a great opening for Shah Rukh Khan and My Name Is Khan. Across India the result is just overwhelming. Despite the scare in Mumbai, the collections are 100% in almost all theatres,’’ he said.
The day, however, was not free of troubles. Khan’s production office in Khar was attacked by unidentified people who threw soda bottles made of glass inside the premises. Nobody was hurt. Samar Khan of Red Chillies confirmed: “There was an incident but we are all safe.”
 
Khan’s wife Gauri also went to a theatre to watch the movie, a move that only highlights how defiant his family is to the Sena threat. Shah Rukh has also been garnering a lot of praise for not apologising to the Sena over his comment on inclusion of Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League.
 
Director of the movie Karan Johar wrote: “Am overwhelmed and moved to tears with all the support our labour of love is getting...thank you..thank you...your hand on our head makes us.”
 
Other Bollywood celebrities like Mahesh Bhatt, Lara Dutta, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Genelia D’Souza also wished Shah Rukh well and said they would watch the movie. Pooja and Kabir Bedi were spotted taking tickets for an afternoon show too.

(With bureau and agency inputs)