Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone Starrer 'Happy New Year' Already a Blockbuster?

Looks like the year 2014 will also be lucky for Shah Rukh Khan as his much awaited film "Happy New Year" (HNY) will release in October.

Last year, Shah Rukh created history by crossing the 200 crore mark with his film "Chennai Express." The film which also featured Deepika Padukone shattered records at the box office.

The "Chennai Express" jodi is coming back to silver screen with "HNY" and hence no films, be it big-budget or small-budget is releasing in theaters two weeks before or after "HNY."

SRK's last release was in August 2013 and hence the upcoming film is the most awaited one. Also, Farah Khan's directorial film is releasing during Diwali (the makers are yet to announce the exact release date). Diwali is said to be SRK's lucky period as several of his previous films were released during that time which became a hit.

"Diwali is on Thursday, 23 October. But it's yet to be seen whether 'Happy New Year' releases on the day of Diwali itself or the next day, which is a Friday," a trade source told Deccan Chronicle.

"Happy New Year" will be a solo release and no other films will release for two weeks after that. Even before its release period there are no big films.

Hrithik Roshan's "Bang Bang," Priyanka Chopra's "Mary Kom" and Shahid Kapoor's "Haider" will release on 2 October. These films will have three weeks for a good box office run before the release of "HNY."

Ajay Devgn's "Action Jackson" and Anurag Kashyap's "Ungli" is set to release on 7 November, which is two weeks after "HNY."

"For Shah Rukh, it is going to be an uninterrupted run since the only three big movies of October, Hrithik Roshan's 'Bang Bang,' Shahid Kapoor's 'Haider' and Priyanka Chopra's 'Mary Kom' are all arriving 2 October," the source added.

"SRK and Deepika Padukone will be seen together again after their mega blockbuster 'Chennai Express.' This film is being designed as an event release and with a setting as huge as this, it is only beneficial for other films to stay away," another insider told DC.

The film has already created quite a buzz on social networking sites with the poster and first look. Also, the buzz is that "HNY" will have the highest print count ever for an Indian film, which would definitely boost the collection at the box office.

Monetary Gain

The shooting of "HNY" hasn't finished yet, but the makers have already earned around ₹202 crore. Yash Raj Films acquired the worldwide distribution rights of "HNY" and it earned ₹125 crore as Minimum Guarantee from the production house.

The satellite rights of the film were purchased by Zee Television for whopping ₹65 crore, while the music rights were sold to T-Series for ₹12 crore, according to Bollywood Hungama.

The combined total of satellite rights, musical rights and other deals is ₹202 crore.

The film directed by Farah also features Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah in important roles.