Jun 29, 2006, 15:01 GMT
New Delhi - Bollywood's first superhero film, Krrish, has grossed a record opening and garnered popularity in India and abroad, pre-empting its Hollywood counterpart, Superman Returns, at the box-office over the weekend, news reports said Thursday.
A blend of Western technology and Eastern music and dance, Krrish, produced at a cost of 10 million dollars, recorded ticket sales of 15 million dollars in its opening week, trade analysts said.
Almost one-third of the collections for Krrish, news reports said, have come from abroad, mostly Britain and the United States, where Bollywood films are popular entertainment for Indian expatriates.
'For a Bollywood film, especially of the superhero genre, its collections are record-setting. India's first superhero is a super-hit,' said Taran Adarsh, a leading Bollywood analyst.
'The film has given the superhero genre credibility like no other Bollywood film has done before. Unlike Superman and other genric movies, this movie connects more with children,' Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'Bollywood's comic heroes also venture into good vs evil fights, but Krrish is more of a smiling hero who can also fly and fight,' said Taran.
'Audiences have also been attracted to the movie as the name of the movie is a shortened version of the name of popular Hindu God - Krishna. That and the Matrix-like trailers have led people to check the film out,' said a film critic.
Krrish, a numerologically-altered name, with a double 'r,' is the story of a man with superhero-like powers, who saves the world from a mad scientist while leaping skyscrapers, skipping over trees, and swooshing through space - while cloaked in a X-Men-like black leather ensemble and a Batman-like mask.
Slick Hollywood-style superhero genre marketing is also being seen as a factor contributing to the film's positive run at the box-office.
'We wanted to build a mental and visual void through merchandise based on the film,' said Rakesh Roshan, the director of the film.
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