One of the most loved films of Indian cinema, Karan Arjun (1995), is all set to re-release on November 22 this year. Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, the Rakesh Roshan directorial will have the biggest re-release worldwide for a Hindi film. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Rakesh Roshan spoke about this aspect.
Regarding the screen count, he said, “We are looking at releasing the film in nearly 1800 screens. The film will be released in 1100-1200 screens in India and around 500 or 600 screens overseas. We’ll wait until Monday, November 25 to see if there’s a demand from exhibitors. If that happens, we’ll increase the prints.”
This year, several films re-released like Rockstar, Laila Majnu, Tumbbad, etc. and the common factor in all of them was that the tickets were available for a maximum price of Rs. 149. Rakesh Roshan confirmed that Karan Arjun will follow suit. He said, “It should be like that for re-releases. Actually, such rates should be there for all the films. I wonder why multiplexes are not realizing (that lower ticket prices will attract more people).”
Theatres charge a fee of nearly Rs. 20,000 as VPF (virtual print fee). Is VPF exempted in the case of re-releases? Rakesh Roshan replied, “Yes. But at the same time, the multiplex share is more. Usually, they give the producers 52% in the first week. But with re-releases, they take 65-70% share. Hence, producers don’t earn much. It’s done by the makers just for reputation and satisfaction. With Karan Arjun’s re-release, I also want to see if a 30-year-old film still casts the same magic on the moviegoers. If yes, then it proves that such films still work. If not, then maybe the generation has changed. They don’t like the trend of 5-6 films. Hence, this is a testing period for me and every filmmaker.”
He continued, “Also, most of the films which were re-released had come recently – 10-15 years back. But this is the first time that a 30-year-old film is re-releasing. We want to see if the audiences’ feelings and emotions are the same or if they have changed.”
His son, superstar Hrithik Roshan, assisted on Karan Arjun and gave the voiceover for the re-release trailer. The way he passionately wrote a post on the release of Karan Arjun’s new trailer makes it clear that he’s very excited about it.
Also Read: Rakesh Roshan would cast ‘Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor if Karan Arjun was made today’, reveals filmmaker
