Kaabil couldn’t have asked for a better release placement for itself. It has turned out to be one of the very rare commercial films to have seen such wonderful pre-release reports for itself. Yes, many offbeat films have to rely upon critical acclaim before they hit the screens. There are special preview shows held for industry insiders as well as reputed critics in order to fetch all the right responses much in advance.

However, it is very rare to have an out and out commercial film gain a series of screenings days in advance. In that aspect it was a brave move on the part of Rakesh Roshan. Well, he has clearly gained from it!

The film has seen an out and out positive response coming its way already and that has added quite well to its pre-release hype. The film was in news right through its making, and especially when it became quite apparent that the clash with Raees was inevitable.

In the last 10-15 days, a series of new (short) promos were unveiled and they only enhanced the momentum. Now that it is set to arrive, the film has peaked well on time. That would ensure that a double digit score is definitely on the cards and that would be a very positive beginning since there is a big competition in front of it and that too on a working day.

Hrithik Roshan’s last release Mohenjo Daro had taken an opening of 8.87 crore while Sanjay Gupta’s biggest Box Office opener is Shootout at Wadala [10.1 crore]. The last time when Rakesh Roshan produced a film for Hrithik Roshan but didn’t direct it [Kites], the opening day was 10 crore. Now Kaabil is all set to go past that mark on its opening day. The film would pretty much come on its own on the big Republic Day holiday and from there on it would be the merits that would do the talking.

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder