(7 June 2008 5:00 pm)

MUMBAI: After witnessing success with its maiden production Saade Made Teen, Zee Talkies’ second Marathi venture De Dhakka also seems to follow the same path. Zee Talkies claims that the film has garnered approximately Rs 40 million at the box office after three weeks of its release.

“We have recovered Rs 40 million in three weeks. The film was screened across 93 cinema theatres in Maharashtra,” confirmed Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) deputy vice president (Zee Talkies) Nikhil Sane to indiantelevision.com.

Multiplexes like Cinemax and Movie Time are running the shows of De Dhakka with high-capacity auditoriums within the Bombay circuit. “De Dhakka has been shifted from 200 seats auditorium to that of 600 seats. Movie Time is running daily seven shows of the film,” added Sane.

Pune’s Prabhat Cinema MD Vivek Damle said, “ De Dhakka has received an exceptionally huge viewer response primarily because of its storyline and the marketing strategy that Zee Talkies adopted to promote the film. Viewers are also visiting theatres to watch the film for the second or the third time. Out of the 11 Marathi films that are running in Pune, De Dhakka is certainly doing the best business.”

“Collections from De Dhakka has been more than that of Hindi movies since last three weeks. After the reinstitution of Apsara, De Dhakka is the first Marathi movie to have generated such kind of response,” added Apasara cinema manager Yogesh More.

As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Zee Talkies is aiming to produce and market 15 Marathi films in two years for which it is investing an amount of Rs 300 million.

Furthermore, following the theatrical release, these Marathi movies will be aired on Zee Talkies.