Kaante gives Bollywood reason to smile

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: The film industry is pinning its hopes on <i>Kaante</i> that opens Friday. Will it be able to bring back the smiles on the faces of distributors and exhibitors, who''ve had a disastrous year with 96 per cent of films flopping? "<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bas yeh film chal jaaye...</span>" is what every industrywallah seems to be saying.<br /><i>Kaante</i>''s responded by registering 100 per cent advance booking in theatres.Trade analyst Taran Adarsh dubs it "a historical opening." "The hype surrounding the film is tremendous and this has translated into terrific advance booking all over the country — Mumbai, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh... everywhere," says Adarsh.<br />Distributors have now got their hopes up, believing <i>Kaante</i> will bail them out to end the year on a good note. Says Shyam Shroff of Shringar Films, "The look of the movie and the way it''s been presented is very different." <i>Kaante</i> opens big — over 550 prints all over India and over 250 prints overseas. As for the Mumbai territory, 105 theatres will screen <i>Kaante</i>. "There''s been a huge rush for tickets," says Lachhman Gangwani, manager of Cinestar cinema, Kandivali.<br />As film buff Viren Sharma puts it, "The last few months have been so dull that I never saw a film. But this film looks interesting. So we''ve booked our tickets for today." The film''s huge starcast is what''s drawing the crowds. "Rarely do we get to see such a starcast," says Rishabh Dutta, who''s bought tickets for this weekend.<br />Meanwhile, director Sanjay Gupta is anxious. His magnum opus, shot in Los Angeles, is out for public scrutiny. "I''m numb with all the buzz and excitement. I''m glad everybody''s back in theatres."<br />Incidentally, Indiatimes.com is <i>Kaante</i>''s online media partner and a major net thrust has been planned.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Related link</span><span style="" font-family:="" ms="" sans="" serif="" font-size:=""><br /><img src="â€�images/redbull.gifâ€�"> <a href="http://kaante.indiatimes.com" class="news"><font color="blue"></font></a></img></span><span style="" font-family:="" ms="" sans="" serif="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span><span style="" font-family:="" ms="" sans="" serif="" font-size:="">: The exclusive microsite</span><br /></div> </div>