Upala KBR (MID-DAY; January 9, 2020)

In its bid to become a Pongal release, Rajinikanth's Darbar is clashing with two Bollywood big-ticket releases — Chhapaak and Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior — at the marquee. Knowing that the Hindi projects are likely to dominate the screens in North and central India on their release tomorrow, the makers of the multi-lingual are making the most of the one-day advantage over its competitors. Distributor Reliance Entertainment, which has acquired 4,000 screens across the country, has procured 500 more screens only for today.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says it is a wise move as the actioner will get a jumpstart. "Theatre owners will [happily] accommodate the film for one day. After all, the film boasts the jodi of Rajinikanth and A R Murugadoss [director]. Most importantly, besides Good Newwz, no film has brought in footfalls. So, this will also work [to the advantage of] exhibitors."

Film business expert Girish Johar says that the movie marks one of the biggest releases for a Rajinikanth-starrer. "Rajini sir has a massive following among the single-screen audience in the Hindi belt. That said, if all three films had opened on Friday, Tanhaji would be leading, followed by Chhapaak. The makers of Darbar pre-empted that and the one-day window will help them garner positive word-of-mouth."

Trade analyst Atul Mohan adds that Darbar, owing to its masala movie treatment, will find takers. "With Rajini sir [mouthing] catchy dialogues and a Bollywood star in Suniel Shetty, Darbar is a commercial entertainer. The distributors are confident [of the offering], that is why they have increased the screen count for a day."