"Dasavatharam" crowd builds up at 9am

Writer: Nor Inayah Ariffin

13 June – Crowds gathered outside the Lotus 5 Star cinema in PJ State as early as 9am to grab tickets for long-awaited Kollywood smash "Dasavatharam" when Cinema Online paid a casual visit this morning. Advance tickets were available for sale starting last night, with midnight and 9.30pm shows for today, tomorrow and Sunday completely sold out since yesterday.

The rest of the shows were also going fast, with fans who preferred the sold-out nighttime shows settling for the afternoon slots.

Ravi: came at 9.30, was disappointed that midnight shows were full, had to settle for today's 3pm screening

Norma: had hoped for midnight shows but had to make phonecalls before settling for either the 3pm or 6.15pm show

According to Cinema Manager Bavani Rajoo, the demand for tickets was so overwhelming that she had to open the ticket counter at Lotus Five Star PJ State at 9.30am as opposed to the usual opening time of 11am. They also sold tickets three days in advance instead of the usual two days in order to accommodate the demand. "The response is better than we expected, and we anticipate that for at least the first two to three weeks, all the midnight shows will be completely sold out," she added. "Even the first shows of the day that start at 11.40am are being snapped up." Tickets were also snapped up early in other locations including GSC Mid Valley, GSC 1Utama and GSC Alamanda.

Lotus Five Star was recently bought over by Indian film group Adlabs, following which the cinema chain has started trial runs implementing an online reservation system on its website for its newly opened Sitiawan Cineplex. According to Operations Manager Mr. Raaj, the response has been really good and tickets for midnight screenings of "Dasavatharam" there are fully booked for the next three days. "So far, online reservations on cinema websites have only reached out to the urban crowd. What we are aiming to do is to provide this service to Tamil moviegoers as well." He added that they planned to incorporate the online reservation system at the rest of their cinemas by year-end.

The VIPs from RHB receiving garlands as a token of appreciation at the premiere for "Dasavatharam"

Dato' Doraisingam: "We expect at least RM20 million in profit from 'Dasavatharam'."

The worldwide premiere for "Dasavatharam" was held at Lotus PJ State last night 12 June, with Lotus Group Director Dato' Doraisingam, Executive Director Dato' Ramalingam, Lotus Five Star Director Mr. Garuna Murhtee and RHB head of Retail Banking Mr. Renzo Viegas among the VIPs in attendance. The film has kept fans waiting over two years and the excitement has been building even on Cinema Online's forums since early last year. Since it was destined to be a hit, Lotus Five Star formed a partnership with RHB Bank Berhad to bring in the Kamal Hassan starrer at a cost of RM5 million. According to Dato' Doraisingam, it is not yet confirmed whether the Hindi version of the film will be releasing locally. "We are expecting to see a profit of RM20 million by the end of the movie's run," added Dato' Doraisingam. He also dished that Lotus 5 Star is working on their own movie, to feature local Tamil actors and actresses with a target of filming 60% of the content in Malaysia.

"Dasavatharam" marks the fourth time Kamal Hassan and Ravikumar have come together to produce the most expensive movie ever made in India, a whopping 120 crores (or US$25 million). The film's title, which means "the 10 reincarnations of Lord Vishnu", refers to the 10 different roles Kamal has taken in the movie, including that of a Brahmin priest, a dwarf, a scientist, a fighter, a tourist guide, an old woman, a beggar, a Punjabi, an African-American and even U.S. President George Bush! Kamal Hassan, who penned the film, has made history by acting in 10 different roles that no one in any movie, including Hollywood productions, has done. The closest is Eddie Murphy who played seven different characters in "Doctor Doolittle".

Related articles:
"Dasavatharam" [review] [showtimes] [forum]
Indian group Adlabs buying into Lotus 5 Star Cinema Online, 13 June 2008

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