Biggest-ever release for Sudeep's Hebbuli

Hebbuli

, starring Sudeep and directed by A Krishna, is expected to be released in over 500 screens across the country, the highest number of screens for a Kannada film. Jack Manjunath, who is releasing the film in Bengaluru, said all distributors have decided to release the film in maximum screens.

'The number of screens will go over 350 and it would not be surprising if it touches 400 screens in Karnataka,' he said. That would be easily two-thirds of the screens in the state. The film is also being simultaneously released in the rest of India and is expected to cross 100 screens in other states.

Hebbuli is scheduled for release on February 23, forcing other filmmakers to release their films before that.While January witnessed a total of 10 Kannada films being released, February is turning out to be a windfall.Six films released on February 3 and another six are lined up for release in the second week. The coming week will see the release films like Melkote Manja (directed by Jaggesh), Gurunandan's Smile Please and Amaravathi directed by BM Giriraj. There are also smaller films by newcomers such as Yenendu Hesaridali.


Hebbuli also has one of the biggest budgets for a Kannada film and is a joint venture betwen

SRV Productions

and Umapthy Films.

SV Raghunath, one of the producers, said, 'The number of screens will easily cross 100 outside Karnataka.In the rest of India, the main concentration is on Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai.The film will be released simultaneously in several foreign countries.

'The high number of screens is because of the demand by the theatres. In a few countries, the film will release 2-4 days after the release here.'