Ranbir Kapoor leaves SRK's record behind!

Ranbir Kapoor has never before taken his career so seriously and has blatantly disclosed his plans to become the "number one" in Bollywood during a recent interview with a leading daily. 

Ranbir reportedly posed a direct threat to none other than the king of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan. SRK on the other hand has left no stone unturned to ensure that his latest release, Chennai Express, had the biggest ever release for a Bollywood film with 3500 screens in India and 700 plus screens abroad. 

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But now Ranbir has finally overturned SRK's numbers with his latest flick 'Besharam', which will be be releasing in atleast 3600 screens in India, making it the biggest release in Hindi film history till date.  The race to capture the most number of screens has become a preferred device of Bollywood these days as the number of theatres has a direct impact on the first day collection of the film.

Utpal Acharya, Distribution Head of Reliance Entertainment, gave a thumbs up to the news and told a leading daily, "Yes, 'Besharam' will be the largest release till date, both in India and abroad. I am looking at 3600 plus screens. I had planned for 4000 screens but Pawan Kalyan's Telugu film 'Attarintiki Daredi' which releases today has a got a phenomenal response in advance booking. That takes away some screens which I had planned in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala." 

Acharya added, "I am very confident of 'Besharam', it is a full family commercial entertainer and more the screens, more the revenue."

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Trade analyst Taran Adarsh commented, "A wide release can go well with a big film like 'Besharam'. Post 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani', Ranbir has become a big craze. Plus, you have the Dabangg director Abhinav Kashyap holding the reins."Acharya offers another justification of the numbers game saying, "When the film releases at a large number of theatres, the audience can pick and choose where they want to see it, an expensive one or a cheaper option. So, more the screens, lesser the piracy."

A leading distributor (on request of anonymity) also told the daily, "You need to have a film like 'Chennai Express' or 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani', which sustains fabulously, to get the numbers. Else it just amounts to higher collections on only day one and this is simply because the film is more in your face. If 'Besharam' is accepted well, yes, then it would definitely make sense to release in so many screens. And yes, even 100-150 more screens can make a difference."