Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh in a nonetheless from the film. (courtesy: Karan Johar)

New Delhi:

Big-ticket Hollywood motion pictures Oppenheimer and Barbie had been lapped up by audiences in Srinagar, says INOX Cinema theatre proprietor Vikas Dhar, who’s assured that the momentum will proceed with Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani because the movie’s director Karan Johar enjoys an enormous fan following within the area. The theatre proprietor stated he began getting requests for Oppenheimer, headlined by Cillian Murphy, about four-five weeks earlier than the movie’s launch on July 21. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie additionally opened the identical day, whereas the Tom Cruise-starrer Mission: Impossible 7 hit the screens on July 14. “(They said) ‘Please make sure it releases on the same day as the worldwide release and the rest of India… For the first time, we have three Hollywood films playing at the same time.

“We are wanting ahead to Rocky Aur Rani… coming this week. Karan Johar has an enormous fan following in Kashmir. I believe that (movie) must also do nicely. I really feel the film might be a longer-lasting movie than Barbie or Oppenheimer,” Dhar told PTI in an interview.

In a video message, Johar had expressed “immense gratitude” to Dhar’s educationist father Vijay Dhar and the people of Kashmir for their love and support during the making of Rocky Aur Rani… He shot Tum Kya Mile, the song from the film which releases Friday, in Kashmir. Dhar said it was a “beautiful shock” when the filmmaker thanked his father in the video.

“Karan Johar thanked Vijay Dhar, which was fairly a shock… Kashmiris are home proud. We love the fantastic thing about Kashmir. We should not any individual who grows up saying ‘We have seen this each day’… For us, to see {that a} huge manufacturing (home) is coming right here to shoot the film makes us extraordinarily proud and completely happy. The response of individuals right here is unbelievable,” he further said.

The love for cinema in Kashmir is not just limited to Bollywood, he said, recalling how the tickets for Oppenheimer were sold out in two-three hours of opening and the first day-first show of the movie was houseful. Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, had a relatively slow start but picked up later. He praised the youth of Kashmir for being “in tune with the remainder of the world”.

“They should not, as you say, a frog within the nicely, like we had been after we had been rising up. They are extra world residents, and they’re the people who find themselves within the historical past of the world… They perceive who Cillian Murphy is, who Christopher Nolan is,” he added.

The theatre owner, who fulfilled his father’s dream by setting up a cinema hall in Srinagar 32 years after terror groups had banned or burnt majority of these theatres in the city, dreams that the Valley has more theatres in the coming time.

“My hope is that extra cinema homes come up. Mentally, it isn’t a default possibility for us like within the night, ‘Let’s go to the cinema corridor, see what film is screening, go get tickets, eat some dinner and are available again’.

“Right now, what’s happening is that people with special interest in a particular movie are coming and seeing it,” the 56-year-old stated.

Citing the instance of Pathaan, Dhar stated folks got here in “droves” to observe the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer earlier this yr a lot so {that a} viewer requested him if he might convey a chair from his home since that they had run out of tickets.

“People had no idea there was a multiplex here before Pathaan and they came in droves. The word of mouth helped, which I hope will happen for Rocky Aur Rani… and Jawan, which is also coming.

“Word of mouth spreads so quick that folks begin strolling in, demanding tickets. We stated we will not do it, the exhibits are all enjoyable. One stated, ‘I’ll convey a chair from my home. Can I sit in? Can I watch? You can cost me extra cash.’ So, that’s coming in, however we all know it would take time,” he added.

INOX Cinema is Kashmir’s first multiplex, opened in the Sonawar area on September 20, screened Laal Singh Chaddha starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan on its opening day.

Days ago Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha inaugurated 100-seater multipurpose film theatres in Baramulla and Handwara towns of the union territory. Last year, similar theatres were inaugurated by the LG in Shopian and Pulwama districts of J&K.

Three new cinemas will open in Bandipora, Ganderbal and Kulgam districts in September, taking the total number of districts in the Valley to have film theatres to seven.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)