Shah Rukh Khan's "Happy New Year", which was recently released in China, has achieved a new feat. The musical heist drama has got the widest release ever on iTunes.
Interestingly, "Happy New Year" is the first Bollywood film to achieve this new height. Directed by Farah Khan, "Happy New Year" has been premiered on iTunes in the Gulf region and in 16 Latin American countries, the makers said in a statement.
"Technology has always helped in overcoming barriers, sometimes they are economical and sometime language. Riding on the reach of iTunes we have been able to cater to audience in over 100 countries with regional subtitleswho can now consume our movies on a swipe at their convenience," Gaurav Verma, Chief Revenue Officer of Red Chillies Entertainment, said.
"Theatrically, we reach out to 50-55 countries for a big film and digital platforms help us in expanding our reach as was the case with our earlier initiative Direct-To-Fan, which made the film available to a global audience," Verma added.
"Happy New Year" is the 200 crore grossing Bollywood film starring Shah Rukh, Deepika Padukone, Sonu Sood, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah and Jackie Shroff.
The film, which was released during Diwali 2014, is Farah's first 200 crore grosser. After the success of "Happy New Year", Farah said that she is planning to make a sequel of the blockbuster film.
Farah told Mirror.co.uk that she would cast "Thinking Out Loud" hitmaker Ed Sheeran in the sequel. Ed was recently in Mumbai where he was seen attending Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's party.
"It was a surprise when my cousin Zubin called me from London to say that Ed Sheeran was going to be in town and wanted to meet up with me and my Bollywood friends. It was very gracious of Abhishek to let me bring Ed and his team to his home for a party," Farah told Mirror.
"Not only did Ed hit it off with Abhishek, but before I left, they both also decided that Ed would act in Happy New Year 2," she confirmed.
