Friday Blockbuster: Baahubali 2 Trumps IPL Cricket In Chandigarh

“Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?” Fans across the tricity streamed into cinema theatres to find out this and more on a blockbuster Friday that saw the halls opening their gates as early as 8 on Friday morning with an occupancy rate of 96% at the Cinepolis Fun Cinema at Manimajra. The 8.30 am show at Cinepolis TDI Mall Jagat was 97% booked, while the first show (9.30 am) at Piccadily Square went houseful.

A PVR official said their phones haven’t stopped ringing since yesterday. Most halls, he claimed, had 80% booking.

The fans, who gave the movie full marks for the visual effects and the histrionics of Prabhas, the hero, ranged from teenagers and young professionals to a more mature audience. “I have been asking so many people ‘Why Kattappa killed Baahubali?’ for the past two years, so I just had to watch the film as soon as possible to find the answer,” beamed Tanya Manchanda, 25.

Sanyukta Venugopal, 55, a diehard fan of leading man Prabhas, gushed, “I watch all his movies first day first show. So, there was no way I was going to break the tradition this time, especially when the big mystery was to be revealed. In fact, it’s my wedding anniversary today, so I asked my husband to take care of the party arrangements while I watched Prabhas doing all the stunts.”

First day, first show: Housefull?

In tricity, the earliest show for the movie was at Fun Cinemas Republic Mall and PVR North Country Mall at 8am. And the occupancy rate was 96% and 65%, respectively.

The 8.30 am show at Cinepolis TDI Mall Jagat was 97% booked but the more pricey PVR North Country Mall Gold had only 20% seats sold out. The 9 am show at Rajhans Cinemas, Panchkula, and Carnival Paras Mall boasted an occupancy of 90% and 75%, respectively. The Wave City Emporium Mall had its first showing at 9.20am with 83% occupancy.

Piccadily Square and INOX N-22 Mall, Amravati Enclave, beamed their first show at 9.30am with 100% and 50% bookings, respectively. The 10am show at PVR Elante, PVR Centra and PVR DT City Centra had sold out 98%, 95% and 93% seats, respectively. Looks like tricty residents really are early birds.

What’s the magnet?

“People are calling us every minute to ask about the availability of tickets. All theatres in the tricity are around 80% booked and we are hoping for houseful as the day progresses,” said a PVR Cinemas official, on condition of anonymity. “The movie is going to be a massive hit. Finally, we can say that we are on a par with Hollywood’s VFX. I am definitely going to watch the movie again,” says 28-year-old techie Manish Goyal.

“I am a student here, far away from home. So any South Indian movie is a welcome thing. It makes me feel closer to home. Also, Anushka Shetty is my favourite actor, so her movies are a must watch. And to top it all director SS Rajamouli has revealed the mystery and promised a part three of the franchise. What else can you ask for?” said BPS Shyam, a student at Panjab University.

The verdict

“For me it’s a 5/5 plus 2 stars extra for the amazing visual effects (VFX),” says Tanya. “5/5 for the movie, 10/5 for Prabhas,” says Sanyukta while clicking selfies with a poster of Baahubali.

“”It’s a 4/5 for the movie, and 5/5 for the VFX,” stated Manish. “Oh my god! I never thought I will ever like any male actor as much, but Prabhas is just too good. I’m absolutely blown. It’s definitely a 5/5 for me,” says Shyam.

161 shows in a day

It might be a Tamil movie dubbed in Hindi but ‘Bahubali 2: The Conclusion’ is setting the theatres on fire in the Tricity as well. Anticipating a huge rush of fans, PVR Premiere North Country Mall led from the front with 25 shows, the first one starting at 8 in the morning. The plush PVR Elante in industrial area, Chandigarh, came a close second with 21 shows. Cinepolis Fun Cinemas, Manimajra, too had geared up with 17 shows. Other cinema halls across the length and breadth of the Tricity spanning Zirakpur and Amravati Enclave also appeared equally upbeat about the blockbuster with Paras Downtown at Zirakpur, PVR Centra and Waves City Empoium Mall, beaming 15 shows each and INOX-NH 22 Amravati Enclave close on the heels with 14 shows. The theatre owners were certainly not chary about No 13 with at least three cinema halls, viz Piccadily, Cinepolis TDI Mall and DT Cinema DLF City Centre flashing 13 shows each.

All eyes on Yuvi

Friday the April 28th is going to be a blockbuster day for both cricket and movie buffs in tricity. While the Baahubali 2 fans fans would be eager to know why Katappa killed Baahubali, the evening buzz would be around the Indian Premiere League (IPL) opening tie between the Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Punjab Cricket Stadium in Mohali.

With Punjab stalwart Yuvraj Singh in the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp, fans would be hoping to see a T20 blitz from his bat. The Mohali Stadium, which has a capacity of 28,000 seats, has been sold out for the first IPL tie to be held in the region this season.

Yuvraj, who had to miss couple of games due to flu, will be the cynosure of all eyes when he walks into the stadium.

With the likes of Glenn Maxwell, in-form Hashim Amla, Ishant Sharma and coach Virender Sehwag in the Kings XI Punjab team, fans would also be cheering for the home team. The game is expected to be a high-voltage one with big hitters like David Warner, Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Hashim Amla, David Miller, Glen Maxwell in action tonight.