Mr Ravi Krishnan was in a fix when his daughters told him they had to watch Harry Potter's final instalment — The Deathly Hallows Part 2 — in the opening weekend, at any cost. He did not want to be a ‘failed' dad like last time when his daughters could watch Part I only several days after its release. This time around, though, Mr Krishnan was in luck as he grabbed the last few tickets to the Sunday night show, after spending considerable time in the queue.

The weekend belonged to the wizard all right. All shows at Chennai's Satyam and Escape theatres were full (July 15-17) with over 3,600 people watching the movie each day across both theatres.

Says Mr Swaroop Reddy, Director, Sathyam Cinemas, which runs the Sathyam and Escape multiplexes: “Harry Potter has always been a big craze among fans but the opening for this Harry Potter movie has been phenomenal and considering it is in 3D, there has been added excitement.” “The movie is a hit with Indians as it's very close to a Bollywood movie, full of action,” says Ms Shalu Sabharwal, V-P, Sales and Marketing, PVR Cinemas. The occupancy rate across the country at PVR Cinemas was 70-75 per cent. Over the weekend, PVR screened 762 shows in 3D, 2D and Hindi versions (in small towns such as Latur and Aurangabad).

PVR is also engaged in promotional activities: Apart from Harry Potter merchandise at multiplex lobbies, birthday bashes were held at the theatres with Potter kits given away as return gifts. PVR is also in talks with studios to hold a Harry Potter film festival.

Says Mr Denzil Dias, Deputy Managing Director-Theatrical, Warner Bros Pictures India, the distributors of the movie: “After a decade of Harry Potter films, the final film is truly a cultural event, and we're thrilled to see this response from such a broad range of moviegoers…”

The final spectacle did not disappoint fans. “I even made my kids sleep for three hours in the afternoon so that they could enjoy the movie as it ran into the wee hours,” says Mr Krishnan.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 opened on 600 screens across the country on Friday. The box office collection in the first weekend was Rs 15 crore — 37 per cent more than the opening of Part 1, but lower than Hindi movies such as 3 Idiots and Dabangg which crossed the Rs 35-crore mark in the opening weekend. But despite the movie being dubbed in many regional languages, considering that Potter is largely an urban phenomenon, comparisons may not be fair.

In Chennai, a die-hard Tamil movie bastion, the Vikram-starrer Deiva Thirumagal had a slight edge over Potter in box office collections this weekend (June 15-17), according to a trade analyst.

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