Source: Telegraph India
Date: May 19, 2010
Kites stars to visit director’s hometown to boost box-office prospects New York, London, Mumbai, Delhi and... Calcutta. Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori will fly their Kites in town on Monday to boost the first-week box office of the Bolly biggie. The city, for all its Khan-Kumar-Roshan craze, still accounts for around five per cent of a blockbuster’s country-wide collections. But that hasn’t stopped the biggest of stars — Aamir Khan to Katrina Kaif — from coming down to Calcutta around the release of their films in recent months.
Hrithik and Barbara will visit a couple of INOX properties on Monday for a meet-and-greet with some fans and a brief tete-a-tete with audience members inside an auditorium. Producer Rakesh Roshan and director Anurag Basu will accompany the Kites pair. The quartet are also expected to go to a radio station and an apparel store. “I think it’s crucial for us that they are coming,” says Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films, the film’s regional distributors. “Given the hype around the film, the first weekend will do well anyway. The fall usually happens from the fourth day, but with Hrithik coming on Monday we can expect the entire first week to do well.”
The Hrithik rub-off will be the most pronounced on the plexes he visits. “The day when the stars come to a particular multiplex, all the shows usually go houseful there, with the patrons determined to catch a closer glimpse of their favourites,” says Captain Virendra Marya of INOX. Monday’s star visit is not purely business for everyone, though. “I am just happy that the Kites team is coming to my city,” Anurag tells Metro from London. “While we will have very little time to go anywhere, I hope Hrithik and especially Barbara can get a taste of Calcutta.” Team Kites is flying high — from Times Square last Sunday for the New York premiere to Leicester Square on Tuesday for the London premiere, then Mumbai on Thursday morning and Delhi on Sunday. Kites is the most important release this summer with Bolly eyeing a major hit after 3 Idiots and My Name is Khan. Locally too, a lot is at stake. Hitting 140 screens, it is the biggest ever release in Bengal. “Also we have never had so many paid previews for a film, with every multiplex playing at least three night shows on Thursday,” adds Soni.