'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' set for world premiere

Shah Rukh Khan's much awaited 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' about an ordinary man's transformation into something extraordinary, is now releasing simultaneously across 30 countries this Friday.

The film starring newcomer Anushka Sharma is said to be the widest first day release of any Hindi film.

Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra have teamed up together after a gap of over eight years and the duo are hoping to recreate the magical success of 'Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge', their first film together.

The film will be released in over 1200 screens across the country. This includes analog prints as well as digital cinemas, a source close to producer said.

The production house has also tied up with social networking site, ibibo, to launch a 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi application, where the online users can upload their video clips and win a chance to meet Shah Rukh Khan.

The film would be simultaneously released on December 12 in over 30 countries including, US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand as well as all major European countries.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is 2:45 hours long

RAB NE BANA DI JODI is not a small film after all. Though there were talks till date that Yash Raj Films and Shah Rukh Khan have come up with their smallest film ever, both in terms of scale and duration (there were even murmurs around the film's length being a multiplex friendly 2 hours), that is far from true.

Though the scale at which the film is set would be visible once RNBDJ releases this Friday (we certainly aren't talking about a KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM or an OM SHANTI OM here since both were massive in look), it has been revealed that the film belongs to the old world school of near three hours duration, hence packing in quite a lot for all who wish to see Shah Rukh Khan for the longest duration on the big screen. The exact length of the film is in the vicinity of 2 hrs. and 45 minutes.

"Yes, the film is close to the duration you suggest though it could be a couple of minutes here or there", confirms Monica Bhattacharya, spokesperson of Yash Raj Films, "The film's playing time is less than 3 hours for sure though."

This would still be less than Shah Rukh Khan's longest movie with Yash Raj Films in recent times, VEER ZAARA, which lasted close to 190 minutes. Even KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA and SWADES crossed the 180 minutes milestone though DON was 170 minutes long, OM SHANTI OM spanned 160 minutes, CHAK DE INDIA stood at 150 minutes long with PAHELI being his shortest in recent times at only 140 minutes.

Shah Rukh's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi sees heavy booking

The film industry and movie buffs are pinning their hopes on Shah Rukh Khan to deliver the next big hit of the year with the upcoming Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, the advance bookings of which have been "terrific".

"The response for bookings is terrific," said Sanjeev Kohli, director and CEO of Yash Raj Films, the production company behind the film.

According to a source from multiplex chain PVR, the bookings for "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, which has a running time of three hours and 46 minutes, are much better than the past few releases.

“The situation has been quite gloomy in the past weeks except for bookings for Dil Kabaddi'. So, we are looking forward to this film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. It might be a saviour in these times and be the next hit of this year,” the source said.

Most multiplexes like PVR and Satyam have reserved multiple auditoriums and time slots for the screening of the film and are receiving a positive response for advance bookings.

This, despite the fact that advance bookings opened for all theatres just Wednesday.

“We delayed the advance booking date to synchronize with the multiplex advance booking day, which is Wednesday,” Kohli explained.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is a story of a mismatched couple played by Shah Rukh Khan and newcomer Anushka Sharma who find true love in the backdrop of a dance competition.

It is being released worldwide at over 1,200 screens, including approximately 300 prints for the overseas market.

Apart from being Shah Rukh Khan's first release this year, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is the first Shah Rukh Khan-Aditya Chopra combination film in over eight years. They had last collaborated for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 1994 and for Mohabbatein in 2000.

Film critic Anupama Chopra says everyone has “great expectations” from this film.

“I am a fan of Aditya Chopra's style of candyfloss and romantic movies. I hope Aditya and Shah Rukh Khan create the same magic that they did with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. It will be interesting to see them create another iconic figure with this film after they popularised Raj (Shah Rukh's character in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge),” Anupama Chopra said over phone from Mumbai.

Though the production house has tried to keep the storyline of the film under wraps, it has constantly emphasised that the film is about an ordinary man.

Anupama Chopra says she is curious to see how Shah Rukh Khan, who has mostly essayed larger-than-life roles with a stylised persona, would be able to carry off the image of an everyday man.

“He has played that look in Chak De! India and Swades but Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is a romantic film. I am very curious to know how he does in the film,” she said.

Two of the film's songs “Haule haule” and “Chance pe dance” are already ruling the charts.